25% Turkish Hard-Surface Tariff Delayed
By Emerson Schwartzkopf
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden will likely pardon a turkey in November, but whether he’ll spare some Turkish hard surfaces from extra tariffs is an open question.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced last month that 25% tariffs on a variety of goods from Turkey – including some natural stone and ceramic tiles – would be imposed, and then suspended the action until late November.
The USTR hopes to negotiate with Turkey and five other countries concerning digital services tax (DST), which the U.S opposes as inconsistent with international-tax principles and burdensome to U.S business.
The USTR also delayed the 25% reactive tariffs against selected goods from Austria, India, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Hard surfaces aren’t included in the targeted products from the five other countries.
After public hearings in May, the USTR made a small change in the list of hard-surfaces covered in the proposed tariff.
One of the porcelain Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) categories – 6907.21.40 – was dropped. A Hard-Surface Report analysis of U.S. trade data shows a customs value of $1.68 million for the category in 2020, but it’s defined in the HTS as “the largest surface area of which is capable of being enclosed in a square the side of which is less than 7cm.”
The USTR tariff list for Turkey, however, retained porcelain that’s shipped under the catch-all 6907.21.90 HTS category defined simply as NESOI, or Not Elsewhere Specified Or Included. The 2020 customs value for that category from Turkey totaled $105.52 million.
The natural stone slated for possible tariffs, including selected categories of marble, travertine and other calcareous stone, remained unchanged. A Hard-Surface Report estimate shows the United States imported a customs value $14.9 million of material on the proposed tariff list in 2020, or only 8.2% of the $181.5 million of natural stone received from Turkey.
The USTR suspended final implementation of the DST tariffs on all six countries until Nov. 29, the Monday following the U.S. celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday. Every U.S. president since 1981 has held an annual ceremony to spare one turkey from being cooked for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
