Citation, commencement and application

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Customs (Import Duty Variation) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 and come into force on IP completion day.

(2) These Regulations extend to the whole of the United Kingdom.

(3) These Regulations apply to goods of the type specified in Schedule 1 or 2 by reference to commodity codes—

(a) that have been exported from the United States of America to the United Kingdom;

(b) the importation of which into the United Kingdom has incurred a liability to import duty under the Act.

Interpretation

2.  For the purposes of these Regulations, the following words and expressions have the following meaning—

“the Act” means the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018;

“commodity codes” has the meaning given in regulation 2(3) of the Customs Tariff (Establishment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020( 2);

“duty varied goods” means those goods listed in the Schedules and identified by commodity codes that correspond to certain goods or any description of goods set out in the Tariff of the United Kingdom;

“importer” has the meaning given in paragraph 32(1) of Schedule 4 to the Act;

“import licence” means a licence granted by the Secretary of State in relation to any duty varied goods;

“standard rate” means the standard rate of import duty for goods falling within a commodity code as set out in the Tariff of the United Kingdom;

“standard rate of import duty” has the meaning given in regulation 2(4) of the Customs Tariff (Establishment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020; and

“Tariff of the United Kingdom” has the same meaning as given in regulation 1(2) of the Customs Tariff (Establishment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

Additional duty

3.—(1) An additional ad valorem duty (“the additional duty”) applies in addition to the standard rate in relation to duty varied goods originating in the United States of America.

(2) The additional duty applicable to duty varied goods conforming to a commodity code in the first column of the table in Schedule 1 or 2 is at the rate specified in the corresponding entry in the second column of the table in each of those Schedules.

Additional duty: exceptions

4.—(1) Duty varied goods are not subject to the additional duty under Schedule 1 where those goods—

(a) are the subject of an import licence issued prior to 18th May 2018 that provides for an exception to, or reduction from, the additional duty; or

(b) were exported from the United States of America prior to 22nd June 2018.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b), duty varied goods are “exported” when they have completed the applicable export formalities and have left the territorial waters of the United States of America.

SCHEDULES

Regulation 3(2)

SCHEDULE 1 Duty varied goods subject to additional duties

Regulation 3(2)

SCHEDULE 2 Duty varied goods subject to additional duties

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations are made by the Secretary of State under section 51(1) and (4) of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 (c. 22)and are in consequence of, or otherwise connected with, the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (“EU”). The Regulations relate to an international dispute or other issue that arose whilst the United Kingdom was a member state of the EU. As a result, this is an EU Exit statutory instrument.

Regulation 3 and the Schedules establish the rules for the continued application of an additional duty (“the additional duty”) on goods identified by reference to a commodity code in either of the Schedules and originating in the United States of America. The additional duty applied by Schedule 1 was originally applied by Commission Implementing Regulations 2018/724 and 2018/886. The additional duty applied by Schedule 2 was originally applied by Commission Implementing Regulation 2020/502.

The World Trade Organization’s (“WTO”) Agreement on Safeguards (“the WTO Agreement”) provides for the right of any exporting WTO Member affected by a safeguard measure to suspend the application of substantially equivalent concessions or other obligations to the trade of the WTO Member applying the safeguard measures in certain circumstances. The additional duty provided for by regulation 3 and the Schedules constitutes a suspension of the application of substantially equivalent concessions or other obligations as authorised by the WTO Agreement.

Regulation 4 provides for two exceptions to the application of the additional duty depending on the import licence or the date of export of the goods.

This instrument is one of a group of instruments covered by an overarching Tax Information and Impact Note. The TIIN primarily focusses on the Customs Tariff (Establishment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 and will be available in due course at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-information-and-impact-notes-tiins. Hard copies may be requested from the Department for International Trade, 3 Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2AW. An inspection of the Regulations free of charge can be made at the Department for International trade, 3 Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2AW. A person unable to access this electronically can arrange access to a hard copy, while government advice on social distancing and unnecessary travel applies, by calling 020 7215 5000.