The International Trade Administration has issued a notice soliciting applications from persons1 who cut and sew men's and boys' cotton shirts in the U.S. for an allocation of the duty-free 2007 tariff rate quotas (TRQs) on certain cotton woven fabric.
Harmonized Tariff Schedule
The Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) is a reference manual that provides duty rates for almost every item that exists. It is a system of classifying and taxing all goods imported into the United States. The HTS is based on the international Harmonized System, which is a global standard for naming and describing trade products, and consists of a hierarchical structure that assigns a specific code and rate to each type of merchandise for duty, quota, and statistical purposes. The HTS was made effective on January 1, 1989, replacing the former Tariff Schedules of the United States. It is maintained by the U.S. International Trade Commission, but the Customs and Border Protection of the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for interpreting and enforcing the HTS.
According to various press releases, Target Corp. and its affiliate, Associated Merchandising Corp. (Target), and Totes-Isotoner Corp., have filed complaints with the U.S. Court of International Trade accusing the U.S. of gender and age discrimination in the tariffs it imposes on similar items of apparel, footwear, and gloves.
The White House has issued a press release announcing that President Bush signed the conference version of H.R. 1, the "Implementing the Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007," into law on August 3, 2007. H.R. 1 will, among other things, establish deadlines for 100% scanning of U.S.-bound containers at foreign ports, etc. (White House press release, dated 08/03/07, available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/08/20070803-1.html.)
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has issued a notice announcing that modifications to the rules of origin for certain boxer shorts from Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement, which were made under Presidential Proclamation 8111 but not given an effective date, are effective as of July 30, 2007, and are to be applied to goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after June 7, 2006.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed and affirmed the decision of the Court of International Trade in Processed Plastics Company v. U.S. ruling that two children's plastic Barbie and Winnie the Pooh backpacks and one children's Barbie beach bag could not be classified as toys.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a notice on its Web site entitled Notice of Examination: October 2007 Customs Broker Examination, which announces that the next customs broker license exam will be held on Monday, October 1, 2007.
The International Trade Administration has initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations of circular welded carbon quality steel pipe from China.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an ABI administrative message regarding Presidential Proclamation 8157 which was recently published in the Federal Register and modifies duty-free under the Generalized System of Preferences, designates Mauritania as an African Growth and Opportunity beneficiary country, and makes technical changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) has posted to its Web site an updated version of the 2007 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTS) dated July 2, 2007 (Revision 2).
CBP Issues Interim Rule on the U.S.-Jordan FTA (Part III - Final - Originating Goods, Verifications)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued an interim rule, effective June 27, 2007, which adds a new Subpart K to 19 CFR Part 10 and amends 19 CFR Parts 163 and 178 regarding the preferential tariff treatment and other customs-related provisions of the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement (JFTA).