Cotton Import Fee to be Increased
The Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service has issued a final rule that, effective Sept. 30, will increase the assessments paid by importers of cotton and cotton-containing products under the Cotton Research and Promotion Order. These assessments are being raised from $0.01088 per kilogram to $0.012665 per kilogram, reflecting an increase in the average weighted price of upland cotton received by U.S. farmers during calendar year 2010. The revenues generated by these assessments are used to finance research and promotion programs designed to increase consumer demand for upland cotton in the U.S. and international markets.
This rule also updates the textile trade conversion factors used to estimate cotton equivalents contained in cotton textile products imported into the U.S., which serve as the basis for collecting cotton import assessments. The revised factors reflect technology-driven improvements in textile production efficiencies and are intended to assure a more fair and accurate assessment of imported cotton-containing products.
Finally, to ensure that as close to 100% of imported cotton and cotton-containing products are subject to assessment as possible, AMS is expanding the number of Harmonized Tariff Schedule statistical reporting numbers on which such assessments are levied from 706 to 2,371.