§3011 Transition to Harmonized Tariff Schedule

Summary

Federal officials must update any proclamations, regulations, rulings, notices, findings, determinations, orders, recommendations, and other written actions that were in effect on December 31, 1988 and that still refer to the old tariff schedule. They must change those documents so they match the Harmonized Tariff Schedule as fully as practicable. If the old Schedules are repealed or if an official does not make the changes, the original documents keep their legal force. A U.S. Trade Representative review dated December 8, 1986 counts as meeting certain review steps required by law (as those steps stood on July 31, 1995). For one 1989 timing rule, treat a July 1 date as September 1. If the President finds that converting certain import restrictions or a specific headnote from the old Schedules to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule causes items to be newly included or excluded, the President may order changes, but no such change may be made after June 30, 1990. Courts keep their power to decide customs protests filed under section 1514 and petitions by American manufacturers, producers, or wholesalers under section 1516, including for goods entered after January 1, 1989. If a court rules for a protest or petition, entries made before January 1, 1989 must be liquidated or reliquidated under the old Schedules according to that final decision. The Commission will investigate certain final court decisions published during the two-year period starting February 1, 1988, and the President may proclaim any needed changes; those changes apply from the proclamation date and, for entries on or after January 1, 1989, if an importer asks for liquidation or reliquidation within 180 days of the proclamation. If the court does not sustain the protest or petition, earlier entries are handled under the old Schedules consistent with the final decision.