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      H

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HARD FIBERS.

Sisal, abaca and coir.  See also Integrated Program for Commodities.


HARMONIZATION.

The process of making procedures or measures applied by different
countries -- especially those affecting international trade -- more
compatible, as by effecting simultaneous tariff cuts applied by
different countries so as to make their tariff structures more
uniform.  Most proposals for "harmonizing" tariffs envisage relatively
large cuts in high tariffs and smaller cuts in lower tariffs, as
contrasted with the "linear reduction" formula used in the Kennedy
Round, which called for identical percentage cuts for all applicable
tariffs.  Tokyo Round tariff cuts increased tariff harmonization among
the developed countries.  See also Customs Harmonization; Kennedy
Round; Kyoto Convention; Linear Reduction of Tariffs; Tariff; and
Tokyo Round.


HARMONIZED COMMODITY DESCRIPTION AND CODING SYSTEM.

See Customs Harmonization; and Harmonized System.


HARMONIZED SYSTEM (HS).

Formally known as the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding
System, the Harmonized System is a complete product classification
system which is organized in a particular framework and which employs
a numbering or coding system consistent with its organizational
arrangement.  At the international level,the HS comprises
approximately 5,000 article descriptions which appear as headings and
subheadings, arranged in 97 chapters grouped in 21 sections.  Sections
of the HS group together articles from branches of industry and
commerce (e.g., animals and animal products, or textiles and textile
articles) or by their functions or use(e.g., footwear, arms and
ammunition).  The Harmonized System was developed by the Customs
Cooperations Council and has been adopted by most major trading
nations.  See also Customs Classification; Customs Harmonization; and
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.


HARMONIZED TARIFF SCHEDULE OF THE UNITED STATES (HTSUS).

A comprehensive classification of goods specifying the duty that U.S.
Customs authorities assess against each imported item.  On January 1,
1989, the United States converted its tariff nomenclature structure,
known as the Tariff Schedules of the United States, to conform with
the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, better known
as the Harmonized System, developed by the Customs Cooperation
Council.  See also Bound Rates; Customs; Customs Classification,
Customs Harmonization, Harmonized System; and Tariff.


HAVANA CHARTER.

See General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.


HAWLEY-SMOOT TARIFF ACT OF 1930.

See Tariff Act of 1930.


HEALTH AND SANITARY CONTROLS.

See Customs and Administrative Entry Procedures; Quarantine, Sanitary,
and Health Laws and Regulations; and Standards.


HEDGE.

Action taken by a buyer or seller to protect his business or assets
against a change in prices.  A miller, for example, might buy a
quantity of wheat to convert into flour at a given point in time and
agree at the same time to sell a similar quantity of wheat that he
does not own, at the same price, for delivery at a designated future
point in time.  It the price of wheat falls, he will lose on the flour
while making a profit on the wheat he can later buy at the lower
price; whereas if the price of wheat rises, he will make an extra
profit on his flour, which he will have to sacrifice by purchasing
wheat at the current high price.  In either case, his production
profits are protected.  See also Forward Market.


HORIZONTAL REDUCTION OF TARIFFS.

See Linear Reduction of Tariffs.


HS.

See Harmonized System.


HTSUS.

See Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.