International Trade Law News

As we previously noted, the Presidential Proclamation authorizing the modification of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTSUS) to conform to the numerous changes made to the Harmonized System was recently issued. The Proclamation states that the modifications to the HTSUS will apply to "goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after the later of (i) February 1, 2007, or (ii) the thirtieth day after the date of publication of this proclamation in the Federal Register."

The Proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on January 4, 2007. The thirtieth day after January 4, 2007 is February 3, 2007.

In the meantime, today the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) posted on its website for the first time the complete 10-digit version of the HTSUS, incorporating the changes made by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and other changes required by U.S. law. The draft chapter-by-chapter listing of the 2007 Harmonized Tariff Schedule and general notes can be found at the following link: www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/bychapter/index.htm. As you will note, this version is prominently labeled "DRAFT" in red on each page, since it will not take effect until February. The ITC has advised that the final version of the basic edition of the 2007 HTS will be posted on the ITC's website on or about February 3, 2007 and a hard copy version will be published by the Government Printing Office at that time.

Another major change that will occur with the implementation of the new HTSUS in February, is that in most cases the tariff codes contained in the HTSUS can be used instead of Schedule B codes for reporting exports on the Shipper's Export Declaration or under the Automated Export System. The list of products for which a Schedule B number still must be used can be found in the "Notice to Exporters" section of the HTSUS at http://hotdocs.usitc.gov/docs/tata/hts/bychapter/0700n2x.pdf.

Labels: Customs, HTS, ITC