CBP Announces EAPA Investigation, Interim Measures on Xanthan Gum From China
CBP announced a new Enforce and Protect Act investigation, saying it has reasonable suspicion that Just About Foods evaded the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on xanthan gum from China, and enacting interim measures against the importer.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
The initiation notice, dated April 29, followed an October allegation from CP Kelco, saying the imports were evading the AD/CVD orders The product in question appeared to be made by a Chinese manufacturer and was transshipped through Mexico, the alleger said.
The alleger said that the Mexican manufacturer doesn't have an official website or online presence and appears to be a subsidiary of Just About Foods. CP Kelco also provided an affidavit from its senior director and a 2018 report issued by the International Trade Commission that both said xanthan gum is produced only in Austria, France, China and the U.S., and couldn't have been produced in Mexico.
CBP issued a Customs Form 28 request to Just About Foods for three of its entries, also requesting photographs of the equipment used to produce the xanthan gum, production capacity of the equipment used, complete factory production records, factory-specific histories and the names of the factory owners and corporate officers, purchase orders, commercial invoices, transportation documents, entry transaction information, and the names of all intermediaries involved.
In March, Just About Foods submitted an entry summary, certificate of origin, inward cargo manifest, commercial invoice and packing slip for one of the entries but didn't provide any other documents that CBP requested for production processes or answers to a CF-28 for the entry.
In April, the importer provided responses to a CBP follow-up for each of the entries but still didn't include production records that traced the origin of the raw materials in question, and no documents for transportation and container load plans for raw materials. Just About Foods also said that it purchases xanthan gum from Mexican suppliers that import the xanthan gum into Mexico. It also reported that for one of the three entries, the xanthan gum was manufactured in China. This led the agency to conclude there is reasonable suspicion of evasion.
The agency said it will suspend liquidation for each unliquidated entry on or after Jan. 23, 2024, the date of the investigation's initiation, and extend the period for liquidating each unliquidated entry of such covered merchandise that entered before that date. It also said it may take additional measures, including requiring a single transaction bond or additional security or the posting of a cash deposit with respect to such covered merchandise. CBP will require live entry and reject any entry summaries that don't comply with live entry procedures as well as evaluate the importer's continuous bonds to determine sufficiency.
Just About Foods didn't respond to our request for comment.