Tire Importer Seeks Lower CVD Rate Despite Identifying Wrong Manufacturer to CBP

Puerto Rican importer Ricardo Cruz Distributors told the Court of International Trade in a Jan. 13 complaint that CBP imposed the wrong countervailing duty rate on an entry of its tires since the seller of the tires was given an individual CVD rate in the past. The exporter of the tires at issue was Chinese manufacturer Tyrechamp, which was given an individual CVD rate of 15.56% in 2016. The company admitted to placing the wrong company name under the "Manufacturer ID" section in one of its forms to CBP, but still argues that the lower rate should nonetheless be applied (Ricardo Cruz Distributors Inc. v. United States, CIT #22-00006).

Tyrechamp was a respondent in the 2016 administrative review of the countervailing duty order on passenger vehicle and light truck tires from China, and has not been assigned a new cash deposit rate since, so the 15.56% CV duty rate Tyrechamp was assigned in that review remains in effect. Ricardo Cruz says it was mistakenly assessed a 30.61% CVD rate for tires it sbusequently imported from Tyrechamp.

However, Ricardo Cruz did not place the blame entirely on CBP. The importer professed to the possibility that it put the wrong name on its entry documentation when importing the tires from Tyrechamp. "Plaintiff notes that it is possible that CBP’s administrative error in assessing the goods at the 'all-others' rate, as well as its subsequent error in denying Plaintiff’s protest, may have occurred, at least in part, because of an inadvertent mistake made by Plaintiff’s representative in filling out, on Plaintiff’s behalf, Form CBP 7501," the complaint said.

Ricardo Cruz said that its customs broker mistakenly put the wrong manufacturer ID. The importer's form listed Sichuan Tyre & Rubber Co. as the exporter rather Tyrechamp. Nevertheless, Ricardo Cruz says it's still entitled to the lower rate.

"Pursuant to the Amended Final Results for the 2016 period of review, CBP was required to apply a rate of 15.56 percent in assessing countervailing duties on subject merchandise from Tyrechamp regardless of whether Tyrechamp was designated the producer of the merchandise, exporter or seller of the merchandise, or some combination of the two," the brief said. The importer believes this to be true since Tyrechamp was listed as the "Seller" of the tires on plaintiff's commercial invoice and as the "Shipper" on its bill of lading.