Commerce adjusts duty exemptions for watchmakers in U.S. possessions

Commerce adjusts duty exemptions for watchmakers in U.S. possessions    The U.S. Commerce Department’s Import Administration has changed its regulations regarding watch duty-exemption allocations and the watch and jewelry duty-refund benefits for producers in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
   The agency raised the maximum total value of watch components per watch that’s eligible for duty-free entry into the United States from $500 to $800, effective today.
   Watch producers in the U.S. possessions asked for the increase because of a substantial increase in the gold price and the weakness of the dollar against the euro during the past several years. Also, there has not been an adjustment to the maximum value since 1998.
   “Raising the value level of watch components that may be used in the assembly of duty-free watches will help producers maintain the degree of diversity in the kinds of watches they assemble, thereby affording them an opportunity to maintain or hopefully increase shipments and increase territorial employment,” the Import Administration said.