Exporting and Trading info

SPECIAL IMPORT REGULATIONS Many countries require a license to import, but the United States does not. Thousands of products are imported freely with no restrictions. Although the importation of goods does not require a license from the customs service, certain classes of merchandise might be prohibited or restricted by other agencies (a) to protect the economy and the security of the country, (b) to safeguard health, or (c) to preserve domestic plant and animal life. The importer is wise to inquire (complete with samples and specifications) with the regulatory body involved, well before entering into any business arrangements. Cases exist in which the importer ended up with a warehouse full of products unfit or probibited from entering the United States. Agricultural Commodities The United States Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture control or regulate the importation of most animals, animal foods, insects, plants, and poultry products. Arms, Ammunitio...

IMPORT QUOTAS The importation of certain products—usually to protect infant industries or established industries under marketing pressure from foreign countries—are controlled by quantity. Specific legislation establishes quotas for this control, and tbe Commissioner of Customs has no right to change or modify the quotas. United States import quotas are divided into two types: absolute and tariff-rate. Absolute Quotas These quotas axe quantitative quotas, that is, no more than the amount specified may be permitted during the quota period. Some are global, while others apply only to certain countries. Tariff-rate Quotas These quotas provide for the entry of a specified quantity at a reduced rate of duty during a given period. Quantities entered in excess of the quota for the period are subject to higher duty rates. The status of quotas are maintained by a central Customs Service computer in Washington, DC. You can obtain access to current quota status by taped telephone message....

Description of the Harmonized System The Harmonized System (HS) is about the size of a major city's telephone book. It is available through the Government Printing Office in three-hole, loose-leaf form for about $60. The stock number is 040-000-00516-1. The HS is a complete product classification system, which is organized by a numbering system. To assist the user, a section in the front of the book gives instructions known as General Notes and General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). These notes and rules explain the use and interpretation of the schedule and a table of contents. At the international level, about 5000 article descriptions are grouped into 21 sections and arranged into 97 chapters (although chapter 77 is empty). The United States version has 22 sections instead of 21, and 99 chapters. Chapter 98 includes information from the "old" TSUSA Schedule 8 related to offshore production (articles 806.20, 806.30 and 807). Chapter 99 contains information transfor...

Description of the Harmonized System The Harmonized System (HS) is about the size of a major city's telephone book. It is available through the Government Printing Office in three-hole, loose-leaf form for about $60. The stock number is 040-000-00516-1. The HS is a complete product classification system, which is organized by a numbering system. To assist the user, a section in the front of the book gives instructions known as General Notes and General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). These notes and rules explain the use and interpretation of the schedule and a table of contents. At the international level, about 5000 article descriptions are grouped into 21 sections and arranged into 97 chapters (although chapter 77 is empty). The United States version has 22 sections instead of 21, and 99 chapters. Chapter 98 includes information from the "old" TSUSA Schedule 8 related to offshore production (articles 806.20, 806.30 and 807). Chapter 99 contains information transfor...

HOW TO USE THE HARMONIZED TARIFF SCHEDULE The United States recently joined the European Community, Canada, and Japan in the use of a new tariff schedule called the Harmonized System (HS). This schedule is an international, multipurpose, classification system designed to improve the collection of import and export statistics as well as for customs purposes. Intended to serve as a core for national systems, it promotes a high degree of international uniformity in the presentation of custom's tariffs and foreign trade statistics. The HS replaced the Tariff Schedule of the United States (TSUS) and the Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (TSUSA), as the United States' import schedule. It also replaced Schedule B as the United States export code, (see Appendix G for the procedures to use the TSUSA should you need to refer to that schedule.) Advantages of the Harmonized System The advantages of the Harmonized System are: • The world will use the same system. • Im...

GETTING THROUGH THE CUSTOMS MAZE A tariff is a schedule of duties. It is also the duty or tax imposed by a country and the duty or tax within the tariff schedule. As a tax, it is placed on goods as they cross the border between two countries. At one time, tariffs were the primary means for the United States to raise money to support the federal government. However, in the early 1900s, when the income tax was introduced, tariffs to raise revenue became less important. Since then, tariffs have been used dominantly to protect home industries.  HISTORY NOTE  The word tariff presumably comes from the^ Arabic term for inventory, which is ta'rif. The French word, tarif, as well as the Spanish word, tarifa, means price list or rate book. An alternate version has it that the word originated sometime after 700 A.D. At that time, near Gibraltar, there was a village called Tarifa, where a small band of thieves lived. They stopped every merchant ship and forced the captain to pay a ...

CUSTOMHOUSE BROKERS The customs broker, the custom service's liaison person with the importing public, will be needed as long as there are legal requirements and regulations pertaining to the movement of merchandise into the United States. Like the freight forwarder for exporting, the customhouse broker is a private service company, licensed to assist importers in the movement of their goods. Formal entries of foreign-made goods representing many billions in duty collections are filed each year with the United States customs service. Customs brokers prepare virtually all of them on behalf of importers. Some brokers are sole proprietors with a single office at one port of entry, while others are large corporations with branches in many ports throughout the country, but all are licensed and regulated by the Treasury Department. The importer employs the customs broker as their agent and, frequently, he is their only point of contact with the United States Customs Service. It is...

IMPORT INFORMATION SOURCES The Customs Service does provide considerable information related to the importing function in the form of booklets, newsletters, and seminars, that are available through the district offices or the Government Printing Office. Most of this information amounts to extractions and simplification of customs regulations. You must obtain information about how to make contacts and/or perform the import function through pri vate-sector publishers and organizations such as Chambers of Commerce or trade associations. The following sources are helpful for learning more about importing: Importing into the United States. This excellent booklet published by the Treasury Department through the Government Printing Office (GPO), outlines the requirements that the importer must meet to enter goods. The cost is less than $8. (See appendix F for the GPO bookstore address and telephone number in your area). Encyclopedia of Associations. You can find this publication, which...

How to Import into the United States:Introduction SOME ASPECTS OF IMPORTING DON'T APPLY TO EXPORTING, FOR example, the tariff schedule applies only to importing. I have gathered the basics unique to importing in this chapter for easy learning: • Government support • Information sources • Customshouse brokers • Getting through the customs maze • How to use the tariff schedule • Import quotas • Import regulations GOVERNMENT SUPPORT Although you cannot think of the Customs Service of the Department of Treasury as the supporting government organization for importing in the way that the Department of Commerce is for exports, it is, nevertheless, responsible for enforcement of the relevant trade. The Bureau of Customs is one of the nation's oldest public institutions. Provision for the service was probably the second thing the First Congress did after forming the new nation. Created in 1789 by the First Congress, it provided most of the federal government's ...