The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated May 20. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
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.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of May 10-16.
The Court of International Trade ruled that a shipment of 443 bales of secondhand clothing imported by DIS Vintage should be classified as “commingled goods” and subject to the “highest rate of duty for any part thereof,” siding with the government in a May 17 opinion. Judge Timothy Reif, after a government analysis of 41 samples of the subject merchandise, determined that nine weren't classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 6309 as “worn clothing and other worn articles” since they had no visible signs of appreciable wear.
The Commerce Department May 17 released a notice on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on raw honey from Argentina, Brazil, India, Ukraine and Vietnam (A-357-823, A-351-857, A-533-903, A-823-820, A-552-833).
The International Trade Commission published a new report detailing its recommended changes to the 2022 Harmonized Tariff Schedule, mostly to implement upcoming changes in the new year to the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System nomenclature. Changes adopted as a result of these final recommendations will take effect Jan. 1, 2022.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of May 3-9.
Very few businesses testified at a live hearing May 6 on the tariff targets for the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and Austria, in response to those countries' digital services taxes, but dozens of firms and trade groups submitted comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
CBP saw a record 38 million Type 86 entries in April, said Jim Swanson, CBP director-cargo and conveyance security and controls, who was speaking virtually to the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference on May 5. That's still not capturing the full scope of small packages that come into the U.S. under de minimis, which tops 600 million.
In the April 28 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 55, No. 16), CBP published a proposal to modify rulings on textile covers for unsprung mattress foundations.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of April 26 - May 2: