The Commerce Department issued notices in the Federal Register on its recently initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on nonrefillable steel cylinders from India (A-533-912/C-533-913). The AD investigation covers entries April 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023, and the CVD investigation covers entries Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2022.
Customs Duty
A Customs Duty is a tariff or tax which a country imposes on goods when they are transported across international borders. Customs Duties are used to protect countries' economies, residents, jobs, and environments, by limiting the flow of imported merchandise, especially restricted and prohibited goods, into the country. The Customs Duty Rate is a percentage determined by the value of the article purchased in the foreign country and not based on quality, size, or weight.
CBP's Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) will next meet June 14 in Arlington, Virginia, CBP said in a notice. Comments are due in writing by June 9.
The Commerce Department issued notices in the Federal Register on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on brass rod from Brazil, India, Israel, Mexico, South Korea and South Africa (A-351-859, A-533-915, A-508-814, A-201-858, A-580-916, A-791-828), and its countervailing duty investigations on brass rod from India, Israel and South Korea (C-533-916, C-508-815, C-580-917). The CVD investigation covers entries for the calendar year 2022. The AD investigations cover entries April 1, 2022, through March 31, 3023.
An International Trade Commission study of foreign-trade zones, and how U.S. policy supports or undermines their effectiveness, gave some support for the argument free trade zone advocates have made about using FTZs as a staging area for de minimis shipments, but suggested that complaints about treatment under USMCA were overblown.
The Commerce Department issued a Federal Register notice on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on beltless steel shelving prepackaged for sale from India (A-533-914), Malaysia (A-557-824), Taiwan (A-583-871), Thailand (A-549-846) and Vietnam (A-552-835). The agency will determine whether imports of beltless steel shelving are being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value. The investigations cover entries from India, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand during the period April 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023, and entries from Vietnam during the period Oct. 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023.
The European Commission this week proposed to reform its customs system, including by creating a single interface called the EU Customs Data Hub that will allow for the submission of all customs information on imports. Under the plan, the EU also would create an EU Customs Authority, which it said would boost cooperation between customs surveillance and law enforcement authorities at the EU and member state level, and would eliminate the de minimis threshold for imports under $162.
Senate Finance International Trade Subcommittee Chairman Tom Carper, D-Del., said he would like to hold a future hearing on the Americas Act, a proposal from Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., to liberalize trade with Central American, Caribbean and South American countries (see 2301110045 and 2301130042), and to pay for grants and subsidized loans for countries reshoring or nearshoring out of China with changes to de minimis law. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., is a co-sponsor of the bill.
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The inability of CBP to stop all goods made with Uyghur forced labor was one of the focuses of a trade hearing hosted on Staten Island by the House Ways and Means Committee, and when committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., asked a witness what more could be done to crack down, Uyghur activist Nury Turkel said the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act should be expanded to cover all of China.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said he'll use the 2021 trade title from the Senate China package as his committee works on its contribution to a second China package envisioned by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to address economic competition with China and to deter Chinese aggression toward Taiwan.