CBP Announces EAPA Investigation, Interim Measures on Xanthan Gum From China

CBP announced a new Enforce and Protect Act investigation, saying it has reasonable suspicion that Global Natural Ingredients evaded the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on xanthan gum from China and it has enacted interim measures against the importer.

The initiation notice, dated June 17 and released June 24, followed an allegation from CP Kelco U.S., which said the importer was evading the AD/CVD orders. The product appeared to be made by a Chinese manufacturer and transshipped through India, the alleger said.

Like a similar accusation CP Kelco made against a different company earlier this year (see 2404040027), the company again provided an affidavit from its senior director and a 2018 report issued by the International Trade Commission saying the xanthan gum could not have been produced in India because it’s produced in only four countries worldwide: Austria, France, China and the U.S. It also provided commercial trade data -- including maritime import data from Descartes Datamyne listing Global Natural Ingredients as the consignee for xanthan gum from India entering the U.S. -- to support its “contention that Global Natural Ingredients was importing xanthan gum from India,” CBP said.

CP Kelco also provided more trade data that showed China accounted for more than 86% of India’s total imports of the product at issue January to August 2023. The company “maintained that the significant volume of imports from China provides further support that Chinese-origin xanthan gum likely was transshipped through India to the United States.”

In November, CBP issued a Form 28 request to Global Natural Ingredients for information on three entries. The importer “provided only an entry summary, commercial invoice, packing list, and through bill of lading for shipped xanthan gum, but none of the requested information relating to production,” CBP said.

In March, CBP issued a Form 29 notice of action to Global Natural Ingredients for the three entries, saying the information provided by the company was “insufficient to support country of origin and/or the country of origin provided is not consistent with the production or manufacturing of Xanthan Gum.” The form “also indicated that the xanthan gum is subject to the Order, and proposed several rate advancement actions on the entries, including suspension of the entries, conversion of the entries to type 03, application of suspension of the entries, and application of the China-wide entity deposit rate,” CBP said. Global Natural Ingredients didn’t respond to the proposed actions by the deadline.

“These facts, as well as the aforementioned information submitted” by CP Kelco, “leads CBP to find that there is reasonable suspicion that the xanthan gum entered into the United States by Global Natural Ingredients during the period of investigation originated in China, and therefore should have been declared as subject to the Order and to AD cash deposits under the Order,” the agency said.

The agency said it will suspend liquidation for each unliquidated entry on or after March 12, the date of the investigation initiation, and extend the period for liquidating each unliquidated entry of such covered merchandise that entered before that date. It also said it may take additional measures, including requiring a single transaction bond or additional security or the posting of a cash deposit with respect to such covered merchandise. CBP will require live entry and reject any entry summaries that don't comply with live entry procedures as well as evaluate the importer's continuous bonds to determine sufficiency.

Global Natural Ingredients didn’t respond to a request for comment.