ITC Issues Semi-Annual Revision to 2021 HTS; Changes Effective as of July 1

The International Trade Commission posted Revision 5 to the 2021 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The semiannual update to the HTS removes General Note 12 for NAFTA from the tariff schedule, and adds new tariff numbers for a variety of products, including frozen warmwater shrimp, tomatoes, organic berries and high-strength steel. All changes take effect July 1, unless otherwise specified.

International Trade Today is providing a summary of all changes in Revision 5 to the 2021 HTS, as listed in the ITC’s change record. All changes take effect July 1, 2021, unless indicated otherwise. Included in this guide is an outline of the several changes to the tariff schedule that have occurred since the beginning of the year, many to implement changes to retaliatory tariffs on the European Union under the Airbus and digital services tax disputes, all of which are now suspended.

NAFTA General Note 12 Removed From Tariff Schedule

After having added General Note 11 for USMCA to the tariff schedule as of July 1, 2020, the commission is now removing old General Note 12 for NAFTA as of July 1, 2021. The note now says: "Note deleted July 1, 2021; superseded by general note 11 as of July 1, 2020."

Statistical Reporting Changes for Shrimp, Tomatoes, High-Strength Steel, Etc.

The July 1 update to the HTS also includes a series of changes to 10-digit statistical suffixes throughout the tariff schedule. Updated provisions affect classification of frozen warmwater shrimp, tomatoes, organic berries, glyphosate, hand sanitizer and high-strength steel, among other things. The full set of changes is as follows:

Frozen warmwater shrimp. New tariff breakouts are created under tariff provisions for frozen warmwater shrimp for farmed and non-farmed shrimp. Subheadings 0306.17.0003 through 0306.17.0040, which covered shell-on, frozen warmwater shrimp based on weight, are removed. They are replaced with new subheadings 0306.17.0004 through 0306.17.0016, which cover farmed, shell-on, frozen warmwater shrimp in the same weight categories, and new subheadings 0307.17.0017 through 0307.17.0029, which similarly cover non-farmed shrimp.

Former subheading 0306.17.0040 for peeled frozen warmwater shrimp is also broken out into new subheadings 0307.17.0041 for farmed shrimp and 0307.17.0042 for non-farmed shrimp.

Feathers and down. The ITC updated the superior text above subheadings 0505.10.0050 and 0505.10.0055 to refer to the correct standard for feathers and down, respectively. The superior text now says the subheadings cover feathers and down “[m]eeting with ASTM D4522, Section 2.2 IDFB Testing Regulations, Part 2, Sections 2.2, 2.3, Part 7 and Part 11-B.”

Tomatoes. Provisions for tomatoes, fresh or chilled, classified under subheadings 0702.00.20, 0702.00.40 and 0702.00.60 depending on the time of year they were entered, are reorganized. Former subheadings 0702.00.2010, 0702.00.4010 and 0702.00.6010 for greenhouse tomatoes are now broken out by type, into new subheadings 0702.00.2015, 0702.00.4015 and 0702.00.6015 for “Roma (plum type) tomatoes, 0702.00.2025, 0702.00.4025 and 0702.00.6025 for round tomatoes, as described in new statistical note 2 to chapter 7, and 0702.00.31, 0702.00.31 and 0702.00.31 for other greenhouse tomatoes.

Additionally, new subheadings 0702.00.2080, 0702.00.4080 and 0702.00.6080 are added for round tomatoes, described in new statistical note 2 to chapter 7, that are not grown in greenhouses. Subheadings for “other” non-greenhouse tomatoes (i.e., not cherry grape, Roma or round) are renumbered to 0702.00.2091, 0702.00.4091 and 0702.00.6091.

New statistical note 2 to chapter 7 describes round tomatoes as: “For the purposes of statistical reporting numbers 0702.00.2025, 0702.00.2080, 0702.00.4025, 0702.00.4080, 0702.00.6025 and 0702.00.6080, “round” tomatoes, also commonly called “globe”, “slicing” or “beefsteak” tomatoes, are round in shape and weigh as much as 0.9 kg.

Cilantro. New tariff breakout 0709.99.9010 is created for cilantro under the residual “other” provision for fresh or chilled vegetables. Subheading 0709.99.9090 now covers “other’ fresh or chilled vegetables not classified elsewhere.

Tomatillos. Similarly, tariff breakout 0810.90.4610 is created for tomatillos under the residual “other” provision for fresh fruit. Subheading 0810.90.4690 now covers “other’ fresh fruit not classified elsewhere.

Organic berries. New tariff breakouts are created for organic strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. Subheading 0810.10.2010 now covers certified organic strawberries entered June 15 - Sept. 15, and 0810.10.2090 covers non-organic. Subheading 0810.10.4010 covers certified organic strawberries entered at any other time, and 0810.10.4090 covers non-organic. Subheading 0810.20.9045 now covers certified organic blackberries, with subheading 0810.20.9060 covering non-organic blackberries.

For raspberries entered Sept. 1 – June 30, new subheadings 0810.20.1023 and 0810.20.1030 cover certified organic raspberries packed in units weighing not more than 5 kg, and those packed in containers larger than that, respectively. Subheadings 0810.20.1028 and 0810.20.1035 are the respective new provisions for non-organic raspberries. No organic breakouts are added for raspberries entered July 1 - Aug. 31.

Dried prunes. New subheading 0803.20.20 is added for dried prunes, whether or not pitted, other than prunes that were soaked in brine and dried. New subheading 0813.20.2090 now covers “other” prunes.

Fluorinated hydrocarbons. Subheading 2903.39.2035, which formerly covered difluoromethane (HFC-32), pentafluoroethane (HFC-125) and 1,1,1-trifluoroethane (HFC-143a), is replaced by new subheadings 2903.39.2036, 2903.39.2038 and 2903.39.2040 covering those three individual hydrocarbons, respectively.

Glyphosate. A new tariff breakout for glyphosate is added under provisions for other organo-phosphorous derivatives. New subheading 2931.39.0020 covers “N-(Phosphonomethyl) glycine (glyphosate) and its salts and esters,” while new subheading 2931.39.0030 covers “other” organo-phosphorous derivatives.

Similarly, a new breakout for glyphosate herbicides is added in chapter 38. New subheading 3808.93.20 now covers “[m]ixtures of N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine (glyphosate) or its salts or esters and application adjuvants.” Subheading 3808.93.40 covers “other” herbicides.”

Hand sanitizer. New subheading 3808.94.5080 is added for “[a]lcohol-based hand sanitizer containing 60 percent or more by weight of ethanol, of a kind described in statistical note 1 to this chapter.” Subheading 3808.94.5095 now covers other disinfectants not classifiable elsewhere in the tariff schedule.

New statistical note 1 to chapter 38 says: “For the purposes of statistical reporting number 3808.94.5080, hand sanitizer must meet the requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the preparation of disinfecting hand sanitizers.”

Vinyl tiles. Tariff provisions for vinyl tile are given more detail. Former subheading 3918.10.1000, which previously covered all vinyl tile, is subdivided into new provisions for vinyl tile consisting of a rigid solid polymer core (3918.10.1020), vinyl tile consisting of a rigid expanded polymer core described in new statistical note 2 to chapter 39 (3918.10.1030), and other vinyl tile (3918.10.1040).

New statistical note 2 to chapter 39 says: “For the purposes of statistical reporting number 3918.10.1030, an expanded polymer core is a core that includes foaming agents.”

Advanced and ultra high-strength steel. New provisions are added to the tariff schedule for “advanced” or “ultra” high strength non-alloy steel. Statistical note 4 is added to chapter 72 to define the terms, as follows:

“(a) 'Advanced' high strength steel refers to flat-rolled products of a thickness of less than 3 mm that meet the definition of high-strength steel in Additional U.S. Note 1(a) to chapter 72 and have a minimum tensile strength of 590 MPa or more but less than 980 MPa. 'Ultra' high-strength steel refers to flat-rolled products of a thickness of less than 3 mm that meet the definition of high-strength steel in Additional U.S. Note 1(a) to chapter 72 and have a minimum tensile strength of 980 MPa or more.

“(b) 'Other' high-strength steel refers to flat-rolled products of a thickness of less than 3 mm that meet the definition of high-strength steel in Additional U.S. Note 1(a) to chapter 72 and have a minimum tensile strength of less than 590 MPa.”

Subheading 7208.27.40 is added for pickled, hot-rolled coils of advanced or ultra high-strength steel less than 3 mm thick, and 7208.39.20 for non-pickled hot-rolled coils of advanced or ultra high-strength steel less than 3 mm thick; subheadings 7208.27.45 and 7208.39.25 now cover high-strength steel in those categories that is not advanced or ultra high-strength.

New subheading 7209.16.0040 is added for annealed, cold-rolled coils, 600 mm wide or more, of advanced or ultra high-strength steel, that is 1-3 mm thick; new subheading 7209.17.0040 now covers such steel when 0.5 mm to 1 mm thick. Subheadings 7209.16.0045 and 7209.17.0045 cover non-advanced or ultra high-strength steel otherwise meeting those characteristics.

New subheading 7210.49.0040 now covers flat-rolled non-alloy advanced or ultra high-strength steel 600 mm or wider, plated or coated with zinc (though not electrolytically), not corrugated. Subheading 7210.49.0045 covers such goods when not advanced or ultra high-strength steel.

Chromium-plated steel. The tariff subheading for flat-rolled non-alloy steel, 50 mm or wider, plated or coated with chromium and chromium oxides, is divided into subheading 7210.50.00 for products 600-1049 mm wide, and 7210.50.0090 for products that are wider.