U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that the 2005 tariff-rate quota (TRQ) on milk and cream, fluid or frozen, fresh or sour, provided for in HTS Chapter 4, Additional U.S. Note (AUSN) 5 will open on Monday, January 3, 2005 at 12 noon E.S.T., or its equivalent in other time zones.
Customs duty
A customs duty is a tariff or tax which a country imposes on goods when they are transported across international borders. Customs Duties are used to protect countries' economies, residents, jobs, and environments, by limiting the flow of imported merchandise, especially restricted and prohibited goods, into the country. The Customs duty rate is a percentage determined by the value of the article purchased in the foreign country and not based on quality, size, or weight. U.S. customs duties are listed in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
On December 3, 2004, President Bush signed into law the conference version of H.R. 1047, the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004 (Public Law (P.L.) 108-429).
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have signed an agreement to create the world's biggest free-trade area, which aims to remove all tariffs by 2010 and is a critical step in their vision of creating an ASEAN Community trade bloc by 2020. (WSJ Pub 11/30/04, www.wsj.com)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an ABI administrative message announcing that it is issuing a "blanket" authorization to allow the release of most types of merchandise on or after December 16, 2004 through December 31, 2004 under Immediate Delivery (I.D.) procedures.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced the 2005 tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) on olives as provided for in HTS Chapter 7, Additional U.S. Note (AUSN) 5; Chapter 20, Additional Note 4; and headings in Chapter 20.
According to U.S. government sources, the 2005 printed, paper edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTS) is expected to be printed later than usual this year.
On November 19, 2004, the Senate passed the conference version of H.R. 1047, the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004. The House passed the conference version of H.R. 1047 on October 8, 2004. The conference version of H.R. 1047 has now been cleared for the White House.
CBP has posted to its Web site its "critical list" of textiles and apparel subject to import quotas with entered quantities 85% or more filled as of November 29, 2004. CBP states that this "critical list" may be used by CBP as a reference for releasing quota merchandise "off line" when the Automated Commercial System (ACS) is down for longer than four hours. CBP notes that textile and apparel merchandise for Electronic Visa Information System (ELVIS) countries cannot be released "off line" until it is processed through quota. CBP further notes that if the system is down for more than 24 hours, Headquarters Quota Branch should be contacted for further instructions. CBP also states that merchandise subject to tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) that are filled, may be released if entered under the "over quota" (high) rate of duty. (CBP's critical list, dated 11/29/04, available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/import/textiles_and_quotas/textile_critical_list/)
On November 19, 2004, the Senate passed the conference version of H.R. 1047, the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004. The House passed the conference version of H.R. 1047 on October 8, 2004. The conference version of H.R. 1047 has now been cleared for the White House.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site a notice which outlines the procedures that must be followed when processing quota-class merchandise under the Pre-Arrival Processing System (PAPS).