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Trade and Industry Department The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
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Commercial Information Circulars

24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

e-mail address : enquiry@tid.gov.hk

Ref : EIC 111/2

29 August 2008

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 438/2008

US : Entry Requirements for Certain Softwood Lumber Products

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of the Treasury announced in the Federal Register (FR) notice of 25 August 2008 an interim rule setting forth the special entry requirements applicable to certain softwood lumber and softwood lumber products exported from any country into the US. The CBP is seeking public comments on the interim rule. Interested parties may submit comments to CBP on or before 24 October 2008. A copy (pdf format) of the FR notice is appended to this circular for reference.

DETAILS

  1. The Softwood Lumber Act of 2008 (the Act) was enacted in June 2008 requiring the US President to establish and maintain an importer declaration programme with respect to the importation of certain softwood lumber and softwood lumber products and prescribes special entry requirements whereby importers must submit the export price, estimated export charge, if any, and an importer declaration with the entry summary. The Act also imposes new recordkeeping requirements applicable to certain imports of softwood lumber home packages and kits.

  2. The products covered by the scope of the import declaration programme are all softwood lumber and softwood lumber products classified under subheading 4407.10.00, 4409.10.10, 4409.10.20, or 4409.10.90 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), including the following softwood lumber, flooring, and siding:

  1. coniferous wood, sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether or not planed, sanded, or finger-jointed, of a thickness exceeding six millimeters;

  2. coniferous wood siding (including strips and friezes for parquet flooring, not assembled) continuously shaped (tongued, grooved, rabbeted, chamfered, v-jointed, beaded, molded, rounded, or the like) along any of its edges or faces, whether or not planed, sanded, or finger-jointed;

  3. other coniferous wood (including strips and friezes for parquet flooring, not assembled) continuously shaped (tongued, grooved, rabbeted, chamfered, v-jointed, beaded, molded, rounded, or the like) along any of its edges or faces (other than wood moldings and wood dowel rods) whether or not planed, sanded, or finger-jointed;

  4. coniferous wood flooring (including strips and friezes for parquet flooring, not assembled) continuously shaped (tongued, grooved, rabbeted, chamfered, v-jointed, beaded, molded, rounded, or the like) along any of its edges or faces, whether or not planed, sanded, or finger-jointed; and

  5. coniferous drilled and notched lumber and angle cut lumber.

In addition, any product classified under subheading 4409.10.05 of the HTSUS that is continually shaped along its end or side edges, and unless excepted or excluded from the declaration requirement, softwood lumber products that are stringers, radius-cut box-spring frame components, fence pickets, truss components, pallet components, and door and window frame parts classified under subheading 4418.90.46.95, 4421.90.70.40 or 4421.90.97.40 of the HTSUS are covered by the Act. The Act excludes certain products from the importer declaration programme, details are set out in the FR notice.

  1. The Act requires importers of covered softwood lumber and softwood lumber products to submit to CBP certain data with the entry summary. The required entry information consists of:

  1. the export price for each line of softwood lumber or softwood lumber products;

  2. the estimated export charge, if any, applicable to each line of softwood lumber or softwood lumber products as calculated by applying the percentage determined and published by the Under Secretary for International Trade of the Department of Commerce, to the export price; and

  3. an importer declaration.

  1. On 19 August 2008, the CBP posted a news release on its website announcing a 30-day grace period for implementation of the new entry requirements. In order to permit the trade sufficient time to comply with the requirements in the Act, the data collection will not begin until 18 September 2008. As a result of the delayed implementation, importations of softwood lumber subject to the Act made between 18 August and 17 September 2008 will not be rejected based on any requirements of the Act. In addition, entries of softwood lumber subject to the Act made between 18 August and 17 September 2008 will not be amended nor supplemented to provide the three new data elements. The news release can be accessed through the following link:
    http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/archives/
    2008_news_releases/august_2008/08192008_2.xml.

  2. For more information of the entry requirements, traders are strongly advised to seek clarifications with their importers in the US in order to comply with the necessary requirements.

ENQUIRIES

  1. For enquiries concerning the content of this circular, please contact the undersigned at 2398 5682.

Yours faithfully,

 


(Miss Bonny CHAO)
for Director-General of Trade and Industry