Of Sausage and Trade Law

The Harmonized Tariff Schedule Chapter 50 provisions relating to impregnated, coated, covered, or laminating textiles are a frequent source of confusion.

On May 2, 2019, in KALLE USA, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant v. UNITED STATES, DefendantAppellee the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in a tariff classification case involving imported sausage casings, where Kalle USA, Inc. appealed the Court of International Trade's summary judgment decision classifying the casings as made-up textiles under subheading 6307.90.98 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, arguing that the Trade Court erroneously interpreted the phrase "completely embedded in plastics" as it is used in HTSUS Chapter 59 Note 2(a)(3), and that the casings should be classified as plastics under HTSUS Chapter 39, affirmed the lower court ruling.