2015 U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule posted

The International Trade Commission (ITC) has posted the 2015 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) to their website. This includes a change record of new HTS which went into effect on January 1, 2015, deleted HTS that expired on December 31, 2014, changes to possible special program indicators (SPIs), as well as modifications to the General Notes and Chapter Notes.

Changes affecting trade agreements include:

  • AGOA: Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the addition of Madagascar and the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, and the removal of The Gambia and South Sudan to the General Notes and Chapter 98 Notes.
  • GSP: Under the General System of Preferences (GSP) eligible countries, Russia was removed from the list found in General Note 4. (Please note that GSP currently expired on July 31, 2013.)
  • ILFTA: Under the US-Israel Free Trade Agreement (ILFTA), an extension was made for trade of certain agricultural products, until December 31, 2015, in Chapter 99, subchapter VIII (HTS 9908.04.01 through 9908.21.01).
  • BHFTA: Under the US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement (BHFTA), for textile products entered using tariff preference levels (TPL) under U.S. Note 13 to Chapter 99, subchapter XIV, using HTS 9914.99.20, a technical correction was made extending the use of this HTS until July 15, 2015. Bahrain’s special duty rate under the BHFTA in HTS 9802.00.80 and 9817.61.01 are now zero.
  • PTPA: Under the US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA), Peru’s special duty rate under the PEFTA in HTS 9802.00.60 is now zero.

We have compiled a spreadsheet reflecting individual HTS number changes*, comparing what HTS expired on December 31, 2014, with the associated HTS that went into effect on January 1, 2015. Some are a one-to-one HTS change, with the new HTS replacing the old one, but many are a one to multiple/many HTS numbers, so you must determine the correct new HTS.

Questions about this regulatory update may be directed to Livingston’s U.S. Regulatory Affairs group .

This analysis is based on a cursory review of the US International Trade Commission’s draft 2015 HTSA (see www.usitc.gov for the full ITC document). Consequently, the information contained in this analysis should not be regarded as definitive or conclusive. Due to the possibility of human or mechanical error by Livingston International, Inc. or others, Livingston International, Inc. does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, completeness, or reliability of the information contained in this analysis and is not responsible for any resulting errors or omissions, losses, damages, claims or actions of any kind whatsoever. Note that this analysis is the property of Livingston International, Inc. Additional copies may be obtained by contacting your Livingston account manager.