[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 195 (Tuesday, October 8, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53748-53749]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-21742]
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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION
[Investigation No. 1205-13]
Recommended Modifications in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule
AGENCY: U.S. International Trade Commission.
ACTION: Notice of institution of investigation.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. International Trade Commission (Commission) has
instituted Investigation No. 1205-13, Recommended Modifications in the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule, 2020, pursuant to section 1205 of the
Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (the 1988 Act) (19 U.S.C.
3005), in order to recommend to the President such modifications in the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) as the Commission
considers necessary or appropriate concerning; the World Customs
Organization's (WCO) Recommendation of June 28, 2019 that Contracting
Parties to the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding System (Convention) modify their tariff
schedules to conform with amendments to the Harmonized System expected
to enter into force on January 1, 2022; and the HTS nomenclature for
blanched peanuts to conform the HTS with a recent WCO classification
opinion.
DATES:
October 1, 2019: Posting of the WCO's Recommendation of June 28,
2019, on the Commission website.
March 2020 (actual date to be announced later): Posting of the
Commission's proposed recommendations on the Commission's website.
April 2020 (actual dates to be announced later): Scheduling of a
public hearing and setting out dates by which interested Federal
agencies and the public must file any written views with the Commission
on the Commission's proposed recommendations.
September 2020 (actual date to be announced later): Transmittal of
the Commission's report to the President.
ADDRESSES: All Commission offices, including the Commission's hearing
rooms, are located in the United States International Trade Commission
Building, 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC. All written submissions
should be addressed to the Secretary to the Commission, U.S.
International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20436.
The public record for this investigation may be viewed on the
Commission's Electronic Docket Information System (EDIS) at https://edis.usitc.gov/internal/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel P. Shepherdson, Attorney-
Advisor, Office of Tariff Affairs and Trade Agreements ((202) 205-2598,
or [email protected]) or Vanessa Lee, Nomenclature Analyst,
Office of Tariff Affairs and Trade Agreements ((202) 205-2053, or
[[Page 53749]]
[email protected]). The media should contact Margaret O'Laughlin,
Office of External Relations ((202) 205-1819, or
[email protected]). Hearing-impaired individuals may obtain
information on this matter by contacting the Commission's TDD terminal
at 202-205-1810. General information about the Commission is available
by accessing the Commission website at https://www.usitc.gov/. Persons
with mobility impairments who will need special assistance in gaining
access to the Commission should contact the Office of the Secretary at
(202) 205-2000.
Background: Section 1205(a) of the Omnibus Trade and
Competitiveness Act of 1988 (the 1988 Act) (19 U.S.C. 3005(a)) requires
that the Commission keep the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States (Harmonized Tariff Schedule or HTS) under continuous review and
periodically recommend to the President such modifications in the HTS
as the Commission considers necessary or appropriate to conform the HTS
with amendments made to the International Convention on the Harmonized
Commodity Description and Coding System (Convention), which contains
the Harmonized System nomenclature in the Annex to the Convention.
On June 28, 2019, the WCO adopted recommended amendments to the
Harmonized System nomenclature that are scheduled to enter into force
on January 1, 2022. The amendments are the sixth in a series of such
amendments and are part of the WCO's ongoing program of periodically
reviewing and updating the Harmonized System nomenclature. The
Commission has posted a copy of the WCO amendments on its website at
https://www.usitc.gov/. The Commission will recommend to the President
such modifications in the HTS as it considers necessary or appropriate
to conform the HTS with such amendments.
As part of this investigation, the Commission 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.
Before the WCO opinion, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had
consistently 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 Commission's
website at https://www.usitc.gov/.
Proposed Recommendations, Opportunity to Comment: In preparing its
recommended modifications, the Commission will prepare proposed
recommendations and then provide an opportunity to interested Federal
agencies and the public to present their views in writing and/or at a
public hearing on those proposed recommendations. The Commission
expects to post the proposed recommendations on its website in March
2020, and will publish a notice in the Federal Register at that time
providing notice of their availability and the procedures for filing
written views, including the date by which such written views must be
filed. To assist the public in understanding the proposed changes and
in developing comments, the Commission will include, with the proposed
recommendations, a non-authoritative cross-reference table linking the
proposed tariff codes to the corresponding current tariff codes.
Persons using the cross-reference table should be aware that the cross-
references shown are subject to change during the course of the
investigation.
Recommendations to the President: The Commission 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
Commission, of the views of all other interested parties. The
Commission expects to submit that report in September 2020.
By order of the Commission
Issued: October 1, 2019.
Lisa Barton,
Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2019-21742 Filed 10-7-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P