Harmonized System Classifications: Learning by Doing

Practice Makes Perfect—A Two-Part Webinar that Combines Hands-On Exercises, Discussions and Instruction

Melissa Proctor will be presenting a two-part webinar on October 10^th and October 24^th, from 1 – 2:30pm EDT on Harmonized System Classifications. The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (“Harmonized System”) is used by more than 150 countries, including the United States, for the classification of products that are traded around the world.

 

 

For importers, understanding how to classify goods under the Harmonized System is critical for determining the duty rates that apply to imported goods, free trade agreement and special trade program eligibility, applicability of antidumping or countervailing duties, and satisfying the “reasonable care” standard mandated by the Customs Modernization Act (“Mod Act”). Importers who fail to exercise reasonable care may owe additional duties to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and be subjected to penalties and additional government scrutiny.

For exporters, understanding the Harmonized System is equally important as its principles drive the classification of exported goods under the Schedule B Code. In most situations either the HS tariff classification or the Schedule B Code may be reported in the Electronic Export Information (EEI) filings for purposes of export clearance; therefore, understanding how to accurately classify goods for export from the United States is vital for compliance with the Foreign Trade Regulations.

In this series of two webinars, Melissa give attendees situational and transactional exercises to work on prior to both webinars. During the webinars, Melissa will use a combination of instruction and discussion of the exercises for a “practice makes perfect” approach to learning how to apply the rules of classification to a variety of products in different factual scenarios. In addition to the exercises, the instruction will cover these points:

• Overview of the Harmonized System and the Standard of “Reasonable Care”
• The Differences Between the Schedule B Code and the HTSUS
• Useful Tools and Resources for Classification
• General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs) and the Key Principles of Eo Nomine, Essential Character, Relative Specificity
• Retail Sets, Kits, Cases and Containers
• Actual Use and Principal Use Provisions
• Importance of Section and Chapter Notes
• The Carborundum Factors
• Classifying Parts and Accessories
• Chapter 98 Duty-Savings Provisions
• Ruling Requests
• How Does Classification Relate to Antidumping and Countervailing Duties?
• Best Practices for Classification in Import and Export Compliance Programs

Webinar participants are invited to submit questions during the webinar; the final 30 minutes of each webinar will be allotted to answering attendees’ questions.

 

Prerequisite: Participants should understand fundamental customs compliance requirements and have at least basic familiarity with tariff classification.

Two Webinar Series: Unlike most ECTI webinars, this training consists of two webinars so as to maximize the benefits of using hands-on exercises and discussions.

Webinar Details:
Date:
Part 1 of Webinar Series: October 10, 2017  1:00-2:30 PM EDT
Part 2 of Webinar Series: October 24, 2017  1:00-2:30 PM EDT

Length: 1 hour 30 minutes (Comprised of 1 hour of commentary and 30 minute Q&A session)
Cost:     $295 per person (additional employees from the same company $100 each)