The Census Bureau posted the latest versions of the Schedule B and Harmonized Tariff Schedule tables on its website, the agency said by email. There were no additions to the Schedule B, Census said. "The ACE AESDirect program has been updated with the new HTS codes," it said.
NEW YORK -- A former WTO appellate body panelist criticized the administration's trade policies as chaotic and ineffective and former U.S. Trade Representative General Counsel Stephen Vaughn defended them, while a top WTO official tried to see the good in both arguments. They were all speaking on the state of world trade at an International Trade Symposium co-sponsored by Finastra and The Economist on Nov. 6.
The European Union published the 2020 edition of its Combined Nomenclature tariff schedule in the Nov. 1 Official Journal. Changes include the tariff reductions under the World Trade Organization Information Technology Agreement, as well as amendments to tariff provisions to keep up with technological and commercial developments, the EU Commission said in its preamble to the new edition.
Mexico recently announced a temporary increase in tariffs on three subheadings covering steel products. Tariffs will rise from zero to 15 percent for semi-finished products of iron or non-alloy steel under Mexican tariff numbers 7207.12.01 and 7207.12.99, as well as for certain alloy steel ingots, primary forms and semi-finished products under subheading 7224.90.02. The tariff increase took effect Oct. 16, and will remain in place for 180 days until April 12.
Mexico’s Secretariat of Finance recently issued its 2019 edition of its General Regulations on Foreign Trade. Among other things, the new edition changes the deadline for customs clearance of disassembled machines, production lines or disassembled prefabricated buildings to 90 calendar days (previously it was a period of three months), said a circular from the Mexican Confederation of Customs Broker Associations (CAAAREM). The change takes effect Dec. 1, 2019. More information is available in a Latin American Confederation of Customs Brokers (CLAA) circular.
The United Kingdom on Oct. 8 published a draft of the tariff schedule and tables of tariff rate quotas that will take effect Oct. 31 if the U.K. leaves the European Union with no transition deal in place. “These documents are drafts. Final versions will be uploaded with the legislation, which is subject to Parliamentary approval,” the U.K.’s HM Revenue & Customs said. The U.K. also updated its guidance on non-preferential, most favored nation rates of duty after a no-deal Brexit. “If your goods are not listed on this page, you will not have to pay customs duty (tariff) when importing them into the UK,” the updated guidance says.
Recent editions of Mexico's Diario Oficial list trade-related notices as follows:
Mexico is increasing tariffs and creating new tariff schedule provisions for iron and steel products, according to a notice in the Sept. 20 Diario Oficial. The country is creating 82 new tariff subheadings to identify different types of iron and steel, modifying 25 subheadings and eliminating 21, all to improve monitoring required under the agreement to end U.S. Section 232 tariffs on Mexico. Mexico is also increasing tariffs to 15 percent for more than 200 subheadings covering iron and steel products that were previously dutiable at 3 percent to 5 percent, and is modifying the text of 22 other subheadings and increasing the applicable tariff rate to 15 percent, said a Mexican Confederation of Customs Broker Associations (CAAAREM) circular posted by the consultancy AJR Mexico. Rates will be decreased every two years by 5 percent, so duties on these subheadings will fall to 10 percent in 2021 and to 5 percent in 2023 before being eliminated entirely in 2024. Mexico is also increasing tariffs on other tariff subheadings for iron and steel products, and adding iron and steel products to maquiladora and sectoral promotion programs. The changes took effect Sept. 22.
The Mexican Secretariat of Economy recently issued instructions for entering samples into Mexico for the purpose of obtaining a certificate of compliance with Mexican product standards, according to a recent circular issued by the Mexican Confederation of Customs Broker Associations (CAAAREM), as posted by consultancy AJR Comercio Exterior. Importers should declare the samples under Mexican tariff subheading 9906.00.01, and attach to the entry an electronic document issued by the relevant certification body that says the samples are being imported for the purposes of certification with a Mexican product standard, the circular said. A maximum of three samples may be imported for this purpose, or in some cases the number of samples stated in the relevant product standard. Under recently issued regulations, certain goods may not be imported into Mexico without a certificate of compliance at the time of entry stating it complies with Mexican product standards.
U.S. industry representatives criticized China’s Aug. 23 decision to impose retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. and called for the two sides to quickly reach a trade deal. The latest Chinese tariffs could lock U.S. companies out of China for “many years,” said Doug Barry, spokesman for the U.S.-China Business Council. Barry said U.S. companies are worried that China is finding other suppliers as the trade war continues, and the latest measures may only speed up the process. “More worrisome is the signal to everyone, everywhere, that the trade conflict is getting worse, not better,” Barry said. “So let’s not invest and let’s not buy.”