CBP Finds Evidence of Evasion By One Out of Two Suppliers of Chinese-Origin Quartz
CBP found substantial evidence that Legion Furniture evaded antidumping and countervailing duty orders covering quartz surface products from China, but didn't find substantial evidence that Vanity Art evaded the same orders. CBP, in an Enforce and Protect Act Notice of Determination dated Feb. 9, said that Legion declared the merchandise as Vietnamese-origin wood furniture without declaring the quartz surface product components as subject to the orders on entry.
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While both companies imported Chinese-origin stone countertops, CBP found substantial evidence that Legion imported Chinese-origin quartz surface products into the U.S. but it didn't find evidence that the stone countertops Vanity imported were quartz surface products. CBP's lab results found that Vanity's countertops consisted of "ceramic, calcium carbonate, or other materials" that were outside the scope of the orders while Legion's countertops did test positive for quartz surface product components.
The EAPA investigation was launched in December 2022 when Cambria Company, a domestic manufacturer of quartz surface products, filed an EAPA allegation against Vanity, stating that they were importing Vietnam-origin wood furniture with Chinese quartz surface products. Cambria filed a similar allegation against Legion in March 2023.
Legion argued that it only imported quartz tops from China for a certain period of time before the orders took effect and that Cambria "mistakenly" filed its allegations based on their "outdated" website. Legion also argued that they imported quartz surface products but they were of Vietnam origin.
CBP found substantial evidence that the quartz surface products were of Chinese origin from one of Legion's suppliers. CBP said that Legion failed to "use reasonable care" when entering its merchandise, as it doesn't know who produced the quartz surface products it purchased from one of its suppliers. Legion didn't have a basis for declaring the quartz surface products as Vietnam-origin, as its direct supplier is a "Hong Kong-registered company" that operates out of China, CBP said.
CBP will suspend or "continue to suspend" the liquidation of all entries that are subject to this EAPA case from Legion, CBP said. For the entries CBP extended for its interim measures, CBP will "rate adjust" and change those entries to type 03 and will continue suspension of liquidation until instructed otherwise, CBP said. The agency also will evaluate Legion's continuous bond and may require single transaction bonds "as appropriate." This doesn't stop CBP or other agencies from taking "additional enforcement actions," CBP said.
For Vanity, CBP will reverse any actions taken on entries covered by this investigation, the agency said. Legion and Vanity didn't respond to our requests for comment.