On November 17, 2020, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed recommendations and solicitation of public comments on Investigation No. 1205-13, Recommended Modifications in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, 2020, which the ITC instituted on October 1, 2019. The ITC’s proposed recommendations relating to Investigation No. 1205-13 have been posted on the ITC Web site. Interested Federal agencies and the public are invited to submit written comments on the proposed recommendations by December 14, 2020.
On June 28, 2019, the World Customs Organization (WCO) adopted recommended amendments to the Harmonized System nomenclature that are scheduled to enter into force on January 1, 2022. The ITC has posted a copy of the WCO amendments on its website. On October 1, 2019, the ITC instituted Investigation No. 1205-13 to prepare such modifications in the HTS as it considers necessary or appropriate to conform the HTS with such amendments to the Harmonized System. As part of this investigation, the ITC will also consider whether it is necessary or appropriate to recommend a modification to the HTS nomenclature for blanched peanuts to conform the HTS with a 2018 opinion of the WCO’s Harmonized System Committee, which classified certain blanched peanuts in heading 1202 of the Harmonized System. Prior to the WCO opinion, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had classified blanched peanuts in heading 2008 based in part on an HTS subheading in chapter 20 that provided for blanched peanuts. An up-to-date copy of the HTS, which incorporates the Harmonized System in its overall structure, is available on the ITC’s website.
After considering written public comments, the ITC will submit its recommended modifications to the President in the form of a report that will include a summary of the information on which the recommendations were based, together with a statement of the probable economic effect of each recommended change on any industry in the United States. The report also will include a copy of all written views submitted by interested Federal agencies and a copy or summary, prepared by the ITC of the views of all other interested parties. The ITC expects to submit that report in March 2021.
