Customs
Harmonized System
HTSUS
Tariff Classification
Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988
Import
Antidumping Duty
Appeal from the United States Court of
International Trade in Nos. 1:15-cv-00196-CRK, 1:15-cv-00231-CRK, Judge Claire
R. Kelly.
“The World Customs Organization publishes the explanatory
notes as its official interpretation of the Harmonized Commodity Description
and Coding System (the Harmonized System), the global system of trade nomenclature
. . . .” Schlumberger Tech. Corp. v. United States, 845 F.3d
1158, 1163 n.6 (Fed. Cir. 2017). “The United States and its major trading
partners . . . developed a single modern product nomenclature for international
use as a standard system of classifying goods for customs,” and therefore base
their tariff classification schedules on the Harmonized System. Michael
Simon Design, Inc. v. United States, 637 F. Supp. 2d 1218, 1220 (Ct.
Int’l Trade 2009). For instance, in 1988, Congress passed legislation implementing
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”). Omnibus Trade
and Competitiveness Act of 1988, Pub. L. No. 100-418, § 1201, 102 Stat. 1107,
1147.
(SolarWorld argues as a legal matter that
Customs’ rulings must be afforded more weight than other evidence on the record,
we disagree. Whereas Customs is tasked with “fixing the final classification”
of imported merchandise under the HTSUS, 19 U.S.C. § 1500; see United States
v. Mead Corp., 533 U.S. 218, 221–24 (2001) (outlining Customs’ role
in classification), Commerce is authorized to conduct administrative
reviews of an antidumping duty order to “determine . . . the amount of any
antidumping duty” necessary to remedy the effect of foreign merchandise being
sold in the United States at less than its fair value, 19 U.S.C. § 1675(a)(1)(B);
see id. § 1673. In accordance with this authorization, the statute
affords Commerce “broad discretion” in identifying the best available information
on the record to value factors of production. QVD Food, 658 F.3d at
1323; see 19 U.S.C. § 1677b(c)(1)(B)).
(U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit,
Dec. 12, 2018, Solarworld Americas, Inc. v. United States, Docket 18-1373,
Wallach, Circuit Judge)
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