CBP Says Importer Must Pay Interest on AD/CVD Prior Disclosure

An importer should have included interest in a prior disclosure it filed after failing to pay antidumping and countervailing duties on an entry, CBP said in a recent ruling that denied the importer's protest of a subsequent bill from the agency.

All Points Industries had filed the protest in April 2016, challenging CBP's assessment of interest and additional CVD on an entry in 2014, even though the company said it had deposited all duties required for the entry in a prior disclosure in September 2015 at an AD rate of 33.19% and a CVD rate of 7.37%. But the prior disclosure didn't include interest.

CBP said 19 U.S.C. 1677g(a) says "interest shall be payable on overpayments and underpayments of amounts deposited on merchandise entered" after the date an AD or CVD order is published. Commerce had published the orders on aluminum extrusions from China before the date of entry of All Points’ entry, the ruling said.

"Accordingly, interest on ADD at 33.18% and CVD at 137.65% must be assessed for the entry from February 14, 2014, the date of entry, to March 11, 2016, the date of liquidation of the entry," CBP said.

And the CVD rate in effect at the time was actually 137.65%, CBP said, so the Base Metals Center of Excellence and Expertise, when it liquidated the entry, was correct in billing All Points for the additional CVD owed on the entry.

And the clock is still ticking on interest owed by All Points, CBP said. Under 19 U.S.C 1505(d), "when a bill is not paid in full within 30 days after the date of liquidation, 'any unpaid balance shall be considered delinquent and bear [post-liquidation] interest by 30-day periods," it said. "Therefore, All Points is required to pay post-liquidation interest in 30-day periods since the date of liquidation on the remaining CVD balance, and interest will continue to accrue until the balance is paid in full."