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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.

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CIT Says Importer's Tritium-Powered Gunsights Are Lamps Under Heading 9405
February 20, 2024 |Bulletin

The Court of International Trade on Feb. 16 said that importer Trijicon's tritium-powered gun sights are properly classified under CBP's preferred Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading of 9405.50.40 as lamps "or other lighting fittings," dutiable at 6%, instead in subheading 9022.29.80 as "apparatus based on the use of alpha, beta or gamma radiations," free of duty, as argued by Trijicon. Judge Mark Barnett said the tritium-powered products don't qualify as an "apparatus" under either of the definitions offered by Trijicon and the U.S. because they meet the "common definition of a device," given that they are made for a particular purpose: illumination.

Topics:Court of International Trade activity, Tariff classification rulings
Planners Shouldn't Be Classified as Calendars Under HTS, DOJ Argues
February 14, 2024 by Kathryn Nucci|Litigation

Calendars are visual objects, not notebooks or weekly planners, the government said Feb. 12 in a tariff classification case contesting CBP’s classification of an importer’s weekly planners as “stationary products” rather than duty-free “calendars” (Blue Sky The Color of Imagination v. U.S., CIT # 21-00624).

Topics:Court of International Trade activity, Tariff classification rulings, Country of origin cases, CBP CROSS Rulings
USTR Can Make Minor Section 301 Tariff Changes, Not Start Trade War, Appellants Tell CAFC
February 14, 2024 by Jacob Kopnick|Top News

The statutory basis for the U.S. trade representative's lists 3 and 4A tariffs -- Section 307 of the Trade Act of 1930 -- only allows for a "modification" of existing duties and not a "radical and unprecedented seven-fold escalation launching an unbounded trade war with China," appellants in the massive lawsuit challenging the Section 301 tariffs on China told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Feb. 12 (HMTX Industries v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1891).

Topics:Court of International Trade activity, Court of Federal Appeals Trade activity, Country of origin cases, Section 301 tariffs