A domestic producer coalition seeks the imposition of new antidumping duties on brass rod from Brazil, India, Israel, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea, as well as new countervailing duties on brass rod from India, Israel and South Korea, it said in petitions filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission April 27. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CVD orders and the assessment of AD and CVD on importers. The American Brass Rod Fair Trade Coalition is listed with Mueller Brass and Wieland Chase as petitioners, but the filing also shows that the coalition consists of Mueller Brass and Wieland Chase, the only two major producers remaining in the U.S.
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.
NEW ORLEANS -- Much-anticipated customs modernization legislation likely won’t be introduced for at least another few months, but the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America’s legislative adviser isn’t worried about running out of time for Congress to pass it into law before the presidential election cycle, she said during a panel discussion April 26.
A domestic producer filed petitions March 30 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duties on boltless steel shelving prepackaged for sale from India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD investigations. Edsal Manufacturing requested the investigations.
Importer SXP Schulz Xtruded Products needed a protest to properly challenge CBP's failure to apply a Section 232 duty exclusion on four entries of its steel forged and turned bars, the Court of International Trade ruled. Dismissing the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves held that SXP could have filed for an extension of liquidation while it was waiting for the Commerce Department to correct the erroneous exclusion it issued or simply have filed a protest, which would have queued up jurisdiction under Section 1581(a).
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A staff report from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission says that Congress should consider that "current customs and tariff levels disproportionately benefit Chinese e-commerce firms," and that packages sent to U.S. consumers "are frequently not inspected. Those that are inspected are often subject to rudimentary visual checks without the technology or screening to trace fabric origin and other violations."
Danco Laboratories, a New York-based pharmaceutical distributor, will pay $765,000 to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act by failing to pay marking duties on its imports of Mifeprex, the active ingredient for the abortion pill mifepristone, that lacked country of origin markings, DOJ announced April 12.
CBP released the quarterly IRS interest rates used to calculate interest on overdue accounts (underpayments) and refunds (overpayments) of customs duties. For the quarter that began April 1, the interest rate for overpayments is 6% for corporations and 7% for non-corporations. The rate for underpayments is 7% for both corporations and non-corporations. Rates are unchanged from the previous quarter (see 2301170028) but subject to change for the next quarter, CBP said.
The Court of International Trade on April 11 dismissed without prejudice a suit from Environment One Corp. seeking to impose a Section 301 exclusion on 31 entries, for failing to state a claim on which relief can be granted. While Judge Mark Barnett ruled against the government's motion to dismiss the case pertaining to 23 of the entries for lack of jurisdiction, the judge ultimately granted the U.S. motion to dismiss the case since the plaintiff failed to include key information about the merchandise at issue in the case's amended complaint. Barnett gave Environment One 10 days to file a second amended complaint lest the case be dismissed with prejudice.
CBP will not be granting any additional extensions for new aluminum entry summary filing requirements related to Section 232 tariffs on Russia, a CBP official confirmed during a webinar hosted by the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America on April 6.