The Court of International Trade on Aug. 16 denied a motion by importer Wanxiang America to dismiss a penalty case related to its alleged misclassification and failure to pay associated antidumping duties on tapered roller bearings.
Customs Duty
A Customs Duty is a tariff or tax which a country imposes on goods when they are transported across international borders. Customs Duties are used to protect countries' economies, residents, jobs, and environments, by limiting the flow of imported merchandise, especially restricted and prohibited goods, into the country. The Customs Duty Rate is a percentage determined by the value of the article purchased in the foreign country and not based on quality, size, or weight.
A decision is due soon from the Commerce Department on whether to begin new antidumping duty investigations on mattresses from Bosnia, Bulgaria, Burma, India, Italy, Kosovo, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, and Taiwan, as well as a countervailing duty investigation on mattresses from Indonesia. The agency is nearing the end on Aug. 17 of the 20 day period it has to review petitions filed July 28 by a group of domestic mattress manufacturers and labor unions.
The Commerce Department recently issued an antidumping duty order on cut-to-length carbon steel plate from Russia (A-821-808), following the termination of a suspension agreement that had been in place since 2003, and in an earlier form since 1997. The order sets permanent antidumping duties, which will remain in place unless revoked by Commerce in a sunset or changed circumstances review. Commerce will now begin conducting annual administrative reviews, if requested, to determine final assessments of AD duties on importers and make changes to cash deposit rates.
The Commerce Department issued notices in the Federal Register on its recently initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on pea protein from China (A-570-154/C-570-155). The CVD investigation covers entries Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2022. The AD investigation covers entries Jan. 1 - June 30, 2023.
CBP announced an Enforce and Protect Act investigation on whether CIMC Intermodal Equipment (CIE) evaded antidumping and countervailing duty orders on certain chassis and subassemblies from China, and imposed interim measures, according to a ruling released Aug. 9.
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Adrian Smith, R-Neb., said he intends to co-sponsor a renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, and said he believes the appetite in Congress is "strong" to act before the summer of 2025. AGOA expires Sept. 30, 2025.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's recent ruling in Royal Brush Manufacturing v. U.S., which found that CBP violated importer Royal Brush's due process rights by not giving it access to business confidential information in an antidumping and countervailing duty evasion proceeding, "may have broader implications," including on forced labor issues, customs lawyer Lawrence Friedman said in a July 28 blog post. If the decision "applies generally, it may require that" CBP make its record fully available, including BCI, which would be an "interesting unintended consequence" of this Enforce and Protect Act case, Friedman said.
The Commerce Department will consider whether to create a new exemption for lithographic-grade aluminum sheet from antidumping duties on common alloy aluminum sheet from Germany (A-428-849), it said in a notice beginning a changed circumstances review. Kodak requested the partial revocation, and presented a letter from the Aluminum Association Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet Trade Enforcement Working Group, which originally requested the AD order on German aluminum sheet, saying it doesn't oppose creating the exemption.
New Hampshire-based furniture seller Yogibo will pay $217,832 to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act by "failing to pay customs duties on imports from China," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts announced July 26. The case was brought by David Kohlenberger, a whistleblower and former senior logistics and warehouse manager for Yogibo from 2017 to 2021, who will receive 20% of the settlement.
A group of retail trade groups, led by the American Apparel and Footwear Association, said that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative failed to adequately respond to comments when imposing its lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariffs on China. Submitting an amicus brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in the massive case against the duties, the retail representatives argued that USTR illegally relied on the president's discretion as a response to the comments, violating the Administrative Procedure Act (HMTX Industries, et al. v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 23-1891).