How to
Obtain Tariff Information
The word "tariff"
is widely translated as being
the bane of everyone’s
existence in the export
community. It’s one of those
"necessary evils" as
were identified by my Xerox
Sales Training Course of many
years ago. In reality, the
term "tariff" means
a tax assessed by a government
in accordance with its tariff
schedule on goods as they
enter (or leave) a country. It
may be imposed to protect
domestic industries from
imported goods and/or to
generate revenue. Types
include ad valorem, specific,
variable, or some combination.
Tariffs range from
"zero" to more than
30% depending upon country of
destination, currency control
programs and/or the degree of
protectionism in the
destination country. Note: In
addition to tariff, there may
be a variety of port taxes,
provincial taxes, customs
taxes and surcharges which may
adversely effect the ultimate
sales price of you product.
The following is an example of
one such instance:
The following illustration
shows how a 20 percent duty is
calculated and its effect on
the final price relative to a
domestically manufactured
product.
| U.S.
|
Imported
Product |
Domestic
Product |
| F.O.B.
Invoice Value |
$
100.00 |
$100.00 |
| Ad
Valorem Duty: 20.0% |
$20.00 |
$0.00 |
| Customs
Processing Fee: 0.8% |
$
.80 |
$0.00 |
| Value
Added Tax: 15.0% |
$18.12 |
$15.00 |
| Total
|
$138.92 |
$115.00 |
The history of tariffs is
summarized below:
- Brussels Tariff
Nomenclature - A once
widely used international
tariff classification
system which preceded the
Customs Cooperation
Council Nomenclature (CCCN)
and the Harmonized System
Nomenclature (HS). The
Brussels Tariff
Nomenclature system was
changed in name only to
the CCCN in 1976 to avoid
confusion with the tariff
of the European Community.
- Customs Cooperation
Council Nomenclature - A
customs tariff
nomenclature formerly used
by many countries,
including most European
nations but not the United
States. It has been
superseded by the
Harmonized System
Nomenclature to which most
major trading nations,
including the U.S.,
adhere.
- Harmonized System - The
Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding
System (or Harmonized
System, HS) is a system
for classifying goods in
international trade,
developed under the
auspices of the Customs
Cooperation Council.
Beginning on January 1,
1989, the new HS numbers
replaced previously
adhered-to schedules in
over 50 countries,
including the United
States. This
classification system
replaced the older system
known as "Schedule
B." If you’re still
using and/or referring to
Schedule B numbers, please
call the Ypsilanti U. S.
Export Assistance Center
at 734/487-0259
immediately.
For the United States, the
HS numbers and four additional
digits are the numbers that
are entered on the actual
export and import documents.
Exporters are advised to use
the six-digit level on the
following export documents:
proforma invoice, air/ocean
bill of lading, NAFTA
Certificate of Origin, and
your commercial invoice. Your
failure to list the six-digit
code will result in the
foreign customs entity
classifying your product
invariably in their favor. The
ten digit classification must
appear on the US Shippers
Export Declaration (Form
7525-V) if the value of your
shipment is over $2500 in one
HS Product Classification or
over $500 and shipped by the
US Post Office, or the product
requires an export license
issued by the US Government.
Any other commodity code or
classification number (SITC,
end-use, etc.) are just
rearrangements and
transformations of the
original HS numbers. As an
example, the H.T.S. numbers
for most Microelectronic
Products are listed in
"chapters 84, 85 and
90". Below is a list of
the main electronic component
products with their Harmonized
Tariff Schedule numbers. Use
these numbers to look up the
tariffs for U.S. imports
and/or U.S. exports to foreign
markets as provided in the
web-links below.
Electronic Components
Listed by the Harmonized
Tariff System (HTS) Numbers:
- Capacitors = HTS #8532
- Resistors =HTS #8533
- Printed Circuit Boards =
HTS# 8534
- Connectors/Relays = HTS
#8536
- Switches/Backplanes =HTS
#8537
- Diodes =HTS#8541
- Semiconductors =HTS #8542
Specific Harmonized Tariff
Classification Numbers (H. S.
may be found at the following
site: http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/schedules/b/index.html
Where to Obtain Tariff
Information:
IMPORT TARIFFS
Tariffs on products shipped
to the U.S., link to the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule for
the United States - http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/impoexpo/rulings.htm
.
EXPORT TARIFFS
Tariffs on U.S. products
shipped to foreign markets
link below for:
Countries among the
Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation organization (APEC)
- http://www.apectariff.org/.
APEC countries include:
Australia, Brunei
Darussalam, Canada, Chile,
China, Hong Kong,
Indonesia, Japan, Korea,
Malaysia, Mexico, New
Zealand, Papua New Guinea,
Philippines, Singapore,
Chinese Taipei, Thailand,
United States of America
South African Customs &
Excise Tariffs - http://rapidttp.com/tariff/index.html
Non-APEC countries: http://www.ita.doc.gov/td/tic/
Tariff Phase-outs under the
Information Technology
Agreement (ITA)
For tariff information
related to the ITA please link
to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/inftec_e/inftec_e.htm
Product Specific Tariff
Links
Computer Related Products
– for computer related
tariff information please
visit the following link:
http://www.trade.gov/td/tic/tariff/index.html
If you’re still having
problems identifying the
tariff for your product,
please contact the nearest Export
Assistance Center.
Date Updated: March 27, 2007
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