Main Idea: GSP eligibility requires in that an article be wholly the growth, product, or manufacture of a beneficiary developing country listed under GN 4(a) of the HTSUS, and applies provided that the article’s HTSUS classification and country of origin are not listed under GN 4(d).

In ruling N328056 (Oct. 4, 2022), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) discusses the tariff classification and Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) eligibility of individually quick frozen (IQF) strawberries from Egypt.  The IQF strawberries at issue are 100% strawberry and do not contain any sugar, additional ingredients, or preservatives.  The strawberries are grown, harvested, cleaned, sorted, and frozen in Egypt.  After processing, the strawberries are packed in food-grade bag liners within 10 kg cardboard boxes and shipped to market in 40-foot ocean containers.

CBP determines that the IQF strawberries are classified under subheading 0811.10.0070, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Fruit and nuts, uncooked or cooked by steaming or boiling in water, frozen, whether or not containing added sugar or other sweetening matter: Strawberries: In immediate containers each holding more than 1.2 liters: Other.”  The general rate of duty is 11.2 percent ad valorem.

CBP also considers whether the IQF strawberries are eligible for GSP treatment.  GSP eligibility is defined under 19 U.S.C. 2463. Specifically, 19 U.S.C. 2463(3) provides, in relevant part, that:

“In order to be eligible for duty free treatment under this subchapter, an article—(A) must be wholly the growth, product, or manufacture of a beneficiary developing country, or (B) must be a new or different article of commerce which has been grown, produced, or manufactured in the beneficiary developing country.” 

Furthermore, 19 U.S.C. 2463(2) provides in relevant part that:

“[t]he duty-free treatment provided under this subchapter shall apply to any eligible          article which is the growth, product, or manufacture of a beneficiary developing country if—(i) that article is imported directly from a beneficiary developing country         into the customs territory of the United States[.]”

Egypt is considered a beneficiary developing country for the purpose of the GSP, pursuant to General Note (GN) 4(a) of the HTSUS. However, GN 4(d) provides that:

“[a]rticles provided for in a provision for which a rate of duty of “Free” appears in the “Special” subcolumn of rate of duty column 1 followed by the symbol “A*” in parentheses, if imported from a beneficiary developing country set out opposite the provisions enumerated below, are not eligible for the duty-free treatment[.]” The “Special” duty rate for subheading 0811.10.00 HTSUS, is “Free” and the “A*” symbol in parentheses follows the Column 1 rate of duty column. CBP therefore references GN 4(d) and determines that the IQF strawberries from Egypt classified under 0811.10.0070, HTSUS, do not

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Photo of Simeon Yerokun Simeon Yerokun

imeon Yerokun is a counsel in Crowell & Moring’s International Trade group and based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He advises clients on all areas of import regulatory compliance, trade remedies, and international trade litigation.

Simeon has extensive experience counseling companies in

…

imeon Yerokun is a counsel in Crowell & Moring’s International Trade group and based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He advises clients on all areas of import regulatory compliance, trade remedies, and international trade litigation.

Simeon has extensive experience counseling companies in the areas of business and human rights law, including compliance with global anti-forced labor and human rights requirements. He regularly represents companies before U.S. government agencies on forced labor-related matters, including securing the release of goods detained and seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He also offers deep experience assisting companies in mapping their supply chains, including linking imported products back to their raw materials using enterprise software and other inventory management audit tools. Simeon is highly accomplished in forced labor supply chain mapping and risk assessments, as well as verifying due diligence efforts with on-the-ground visits to client facilities, incorporating third-party intelligence and audit resources.

Simeon’s experience also covers a broad spectrum of trade and customs issues, including those related to import regulatory compliance matters such as valuation, classification, duty drawback, marking and labeling, entry procedures, and penalties; free trade agreements; antidumping and countervailing duty issues; trade litigation; intellectual property issues such as trademark and copyright infringement; the enforcement of exclusion orders issued by the International Trade Commission (ITC); steel and aluminum tariffs under the Section 232 National Security Investigation; and the additional tariffs on products from China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

Additionally, Simeon handles antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations before the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) under the Tariff Act of 1930, and litigation involving the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT).

Prior to joining Crowell, Simeon was a trade and finance attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel—U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and before that, he served as counsel to Commissioner Irving A. Williamson at the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Simeon is a proud graduate of Howard University School of Law, where he served as technical editor of the school’s Human Rights and Globalization Law Review.

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Photo of Emily Devereaux Emily Devereaux

Emily Devereaux is a senior international trade analyst I in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office. She provides practice support to the International Trade Group on import regulatory matters pending before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and U.S. Customs and

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Emily Devereaux is a senior international trade analyst I in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office. She provides practice support to the International Trade Group on import regulatory matters pending before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). She works closely with attorneys developing courses of action for clients impacted by investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. She also supports unfair trade investigations, including antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations, sunset reviews, and changed circumstance reviews before the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission (ITC).

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