Tariff Schedule on NAFTA Rules of Origin, Israeli Farm Goods Amended

(White House via WTI)

President Obama has issued a proclamation amending the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. to reflect numerous changes to the rules of origin under NAFTA as well as the duty-free treatment afforded to certain agricultural products from Israel.

Presidential proclamation 8097 of December 29, 2006, modified the HTSUS to reflect amendments to the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System and to ensure the continuation of the staged duty rate reductions under NAFTA for originating goods of Mexico in tariff categories that were affected by those amendments.

The U.S., Canada and Mexico have now agreed to modify certain NAFTA rules of origin to ensure that the tariff and certain other treatment accorded to originating goods will continue to be provided under the tariff categories that were modified in proclamation 8097. This proclamation will implement these changes, which are detailed in annexes I and II in the attached report from the International Trade Commission, with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after October 2.

In addition, this proclamation makes certain technical amendments to the HTSUS, detailed in annex III of the attached ITC report, that are necessary to conform it to the Harmonized System.

Finally, this proclamation modifies the HTSUS, as detailed in annex IV of the attached ITC report, to reflect the duty-free treatment provided to specified quantities of certain agricultural products of Israel through Dec. 31, 2009, pursuant to the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement and a 2004 bilateral agreement on trade in agricultural products.