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News Release 20-135
Inv. No(s). 1205-13
Contact: Peg O'Laughlin, 202-205-1819
The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) is soliciting written comments from interested federal agencies and the public concerning proposed modifications to the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS).
The proposed modifications, presented in Recommended Modifications to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, 2020 (USITC publication 5139, November 2020), would conform the U.S. HTS with amendments to the global Harmonized System (HS).
The HS is the international product naming system that is used to categorize and monitor global trade in goods. The U.S. HTS and the classification systems of 160 other countries are based on the HS, and national classification systems are modified to reflect any changes to the HS. The USITC is responsible for maintaining the U.S. HTS.
In June 2019, the World Customs Organization (WCO) adopted a package of amendments to the HS product nomenclature. Subsequently, in October 2019, the USITC instituted an investigation (Inv. No. 1205-13) to draft comparable modifications to the U.S. HTS.
The USITC will finalize its recommended modifications to the HTS and submit a report to the President in March 2021.
Written submissions should be addressed to the Secretary of the Commission and should be submitted no later than 5:15 p.m. on December 14, 2020. All written submissions, except for confidential business information, will be available for public inspection.
IMPORTANT: All filings must be made through the Commission’s Electronic Document Information System (EDIS, https://edis.usitc.gov). No in-person paper-based filings or paper copies of any electronic filings will be accepted. Questions regarding electronic filing should be directed to the Office of the Secretary, Docket Services Division (EDIS3Help@usitc.gov), or consult the Commission’s Handbook on Filing Procedures.
Further information regarding written submissions is available in the USITC’s Notice of proposed recommendations and solicitation of public comments, dated November 17, 2020. Filers are strongly encouraged to review this notice for important filing details. The notice can be downloaded from the USITC Internet site (www.usitc.gov) or may be obtained by contacting the Office of the Secretary at the above address or commissionhearings@usitc.gov.