The supplemental assessment fee on imported cotton is set to increase by more than 11% as of October 16, 2023 through a new Final Rule issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)

The rule will increase the supplemental assessment on imported cotton from $0.013215 per kilogram to $0.014691 per kilogram. This means that cotton importers will need to pay an additional $0.001476 per kilogram for every kilogram of cotton they import.

According to the Cotton Board Rules and Regulations, this increase is necessary to ensure that assessments collected on imported cotton and the cotton content of imported products will be the same as those paid on domestically produced cotton.

The Cotton Board uses the revenue from the supplemental assessment to fund research and promotion activities that benefit the US cotton industry. These activities include developing new cotton varieties, improving cotton production practices, and promoting US cotton to consumers and businesses around the world.

The change was calculated based on the increase in the average weighted price of Upland cotton received by U.S. farmers during the period January through December 2022, assuring both importers and domestic parties are assessed at the same rate.

In addition, AMS has amended the Import Assessment Table, which identifies the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) classification numbers that are subject to this assessment, the corresponding conversion factor, and the assessment rate for that HTS.

Cotton importers should review the updated HTS numbers to ensure that they are using the correct numbers when reporting their imports.

You can read the final rule here: Cotton Board Rules and Regulations: Adjusting Supplemental Assessment on Imports (2023 Amendments)

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