CBP Ramps Up EAPA Enforcement, Collects More Duties Across Board

The number of investigations under the Enforce and Protect Act almost doubled in fiscal year 2018, CBP said in its annual report, and the agency was able to issue final determinations for 12 investigations that year; in fiscal year 2017, it finished only one. To conduct EAPA investigations, CBP has traveled to Thailand, Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Cambodia and the Philippines. During the year, it took interim measures in six ongoing EAPA investigations to collect antidumping and countervailing duties. The entire EAPA program prevented the evasion of $50 million in AD/CVD duties during the year, the agency said.

"The EAPA investigations cover a wide range of commodities, including diamond sawblades, aluminum extrusions, door thresholds, refrigerants, plywood, glycine, steel wire garment hangers, pencils, wooden bedroom furniture, oil country tubular goods, and stainless steel flanges among others," the report said.

Overall, CBP processed $2.65 trillion in imports, and cargo containers increased about 4 percent from FY17. CBP collected about $40.6 billion in duties, up almost 23 percent from FY17.

During FY18, CBP processed more than 161 million express bills, a 46 percent increase over the previous year. More than 90 percent of intellectual property seizures were found in express and international mail shipments. CBP made 33,810 seizures due to IP violations, with a retail value of about $1.4 billion if the goods had been genuine.

"As of December 19, 2018, CBP has assessed nearly $527 million in Section 201 duties; more than $1.1 billion in Section 232 aluminum duties; over $3.4 billion in Section 232 steel duties; and more than $8 billion in Section 301 duties on goods from China," the report said.

There were 53 new antidumping and countervailing duty orders during the year, a 13 percent increase from FY17. At the end of FY18, 469 AD/CVD orders were in effect, up from 416 at the end of FY17.

During FY18, the were $24.2 billion of imported goods that were subject to antidumping or countervailing duties or both. CBP imposed penalties of more than $92 million for importers who neglected to pay AD/CVD through fraud or negligence. "CBP entry summary reviews during FY2018 also resulted in recovery of over $65.5 million in AD/CVD duties owed. CBP audits identified approximately $25 million in owed AD/CVD duties with $2.5 million collected to date," the report said. "Finally, CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seized shipments with a domestic value of more than $1.3 million for AD/CVD violations."