US Says Chinese Garlic Importer Negligently Avoided AD Duties, Seeks Over $254K

Importer Cherish Your Health Food "failed to exercise reasonable care and competence" in submitting import documents related to its entries of fresh garlic from China, the U.S. said in an Oct. 30 complaint at the Court of International Trade. As a result of the company's "negligent violations" of customs laws, the U.S. is seeking over $254,000 related to a group of three entries, dubbed "Group A," it said (United States v. Cherish Your Health Food, CIT # 23-00230).

The government also is seeking over $200,000 related to Cherish's failure to pay antidumping duties on two additional entries, dubbed "Group B." As the importer of record, Cherish is responsible for paying the duties, the complaint said.

Cherish entered the subject fresh garlic from 2018 to 2020 in New Jersey. During that time, the goods were subject to the antidumping duty order on fresh garlic from China, requiring the importer to pay $4.71 per kilogram in cash deposits. The U.S. said the goods in Group A were "entered or introduced into the commerce of the United States by means of false statements, acts, or omissions that resulted in the evasion of antidumping duties."

In particular, the importer said the goods were Type 01 entries, not subject to antidumping duties. The company failed "to exercise reasonable care and competence when importing fresh garlic from China," given that the AD order was imposed in 1994 and information on the AD case was "publicly available," the complaint said. "Despite having access to this information, there is no evidence that Cherish made any attempt to verify whether fresh garlic from China was subject to an antidumping case," making the importer fully responsible for its customs broker's actions, the brief said.

CBP told Cherish in 2020 that it thought the company failed to reflect the AD case on its goods. In all, CBP said it lost $290,714.30 in unpaid duties and over $14,000 in interest, ultimately demanding a payment of $254,884.09 for the duties it was deprived, since Cherish's surety paid part of the cost.

The Group B entries, on the other hand, were assessed the AD duties, but Cherish never paid them. For these goods, the government is demanding $201,303.07.