How to Locate an Exported or Imported
Product on a Retaliation List
U.S. Retaliatory Actions: Imported products considered
for inclusion on U.S. retaliation lists will be published for
public comment in a Federal
Register Notice (FRN)
by the United States Trade Representative (USTR). The final list
of U.S. imports to be subject to retaliatory duties will be published
in a subsequent FRN and on the Retaliation Alert Web site (maintained
by the U.S. Department of Commerce).
Foreign Retaliatory Actions: U.S. exported products to
be considered for inclusion on foreign retaliation lists will
be more difficult to locate and determine how to provide public
comment (if requested). However, as made available, foreign preliminary
(and then final) retaliation lists will be published on the Retaliation
Alert Web site (maintained by the U.S. Department of Commerce).
Tips for Reviewing a Retaliation List
Once you have located a preliminary or final retaliation list,
review the list to determine if your company's product is included.
The most basic and authoritative way to do this is to know your
imported/exported product's tariff code classification. (See the
two sections below on identifying U.S. and foreign tariff codes.)
If you do not know your product's tariff code classification,
then you should at least examine the accompanying product descriptions
on published preliminary and final retaliation lists. If the product
descriptions do not match or are not at least similar to your
product, you may not be affected by the retaliatory action in
question. Note that the most authoritative way to identify and
confirm whether or not your product is on a retaliation list is
to know its tariff code classification.
Products Included on U.S. Retaliation
Lists
The United States will categorize products using the U.S. Harmonized
Tariff Schedule (USHTS) number. The USHTS number is the U.S. government's
way of categorizing imports by numerical code. The first two digits
represent chapter headings of broadly defined product categories.
There are 99 chapters. For instance, chapter 01 is live animals,
while chapter 30 is pharmaceutical products. As digits are added
to the chapter headings, the product definition grows more specific:
HTS 0102 is live bovine animals, while HTS 0102.10.00.10 is male
dairy purebred breeding animals. The same is true of all product
categories in the various chapter headings. Please note that the
product descriptions used in published retaliation lists are edited
for brevity and do not convey all of the distinctions made in
the official Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States .
The current USHTS and any supplements, as well as any applicable
Customs regulations and decisions provide the complete legal product
descriptions and tariff rates.
Products Included on Foreign Retaliation
Lists Involving the United States
Most countries have harmonized their tariff classification systems
so that their 6-digit tariff codes match the USHTS 6-digit codes.
Therefore, you can use the USHTS to evaluate foreign retaliation
lists that categorize products at the 6-digit level to determine
if your exported product will be impacted by the retaliation.
If products included on the retaliation list are categorized using
a more disaggregated coding system (8 digit, 9 digit or 10 digit),
then the codes and descriptions associated with those products
may not be equivalent to codes and descriptions in the USHTS.
At this point it would be useful to contact the foreign mission
or embassy of the country retaliating against the United States
in order to gather more information on the U.S. exports which
could be affected by retaliation.
Links
to Web sites outside the U.S. federal government or the use
of trade, firm, or corporation names within the International
Trade Administration Web sites are for the convenience of the
user. Such use does not constitute an official endorsement or
approval by the U.S. Commerce Department of any private sector
Web site, product, or service.
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