Update from CTDA’s Trade Attorney

PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL: ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATIONS: CTDA MEMBER UPDATE ON TRADE ISSUES RELEVANT TO THE CERAMIC TILE INDUSTRY

CTDA Legal Counsel Robin Grover made a presentation on the recent Tariff Updates. Below is the link to the PowerPoint presentation he provided during the Member Meet Up on Wednesday August 6th.

During the presentation on US tariffs, a question was asked by a member about the new tariff treatment of imported stone.

If the products being handled by CTDA members would be stone tile and paving stone. they are classifiable under Chapter 68 of the HTS with the following Most Favored Nation (“MFN”) tariff rates, specifically:

HTS 6801.00.0000 Setts, curbstones, and flagstones, of natural stone (except slate) – 2.8%

HTS 6802.10.0000 Mosaic cubes and the like, of natural stone(including slate),whether or not on a backing: Tiles, whether or not rectangular (including square), the largest face of which is capable of being enclosed in a square the side of which is less than 7 cm; artificially colored granules, chippings and powder – 4.8 %

The Impact of the New Tariffs on the HTS stone classifications . . .

Stone items classifiable under the two HTS subheadings above are subject to a total 15 percent tariff if they originate in one of the 27 European Union member countries.

If they originate from countries listed in Annex 1 to the President’s July 31 Executive Order (attached), they are subject to the MFN tariff rates cited above plus the listed country rate. Thus, natural stone mosaic cubes from Bangladesh classifiable under HTS 6802.10.0000 above, would be subject to the MFN rate of 4.8 percent plus the 20 percent country rate for Bangladesh of 24.8 percent. If they originate from countries not listed in Annex 1 such as Turkey, the stone tiles would be subject to the MFN rate of 4.8 percent plus the 10 percent additional baseline for a total of 14.8 percent as the “new” tariff on stone tile which should be the same tariff rate as was applicable between April and August 6th.

If you have any questions, please contact CTDA Legal Counsel Robin Grover at (202) 302-1653. We will promptly alert you to any further developments regarding this and other trade issues.