A domestic producer filed a petition Dec. 29 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duties on lemon juice from Brazil and South Africa. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD duty investigations. Ventura Coastal requested the investigation.
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 is set to publish on Jan. 4 the quarterly Internal Revenue Service interest rates used to calculate interest on overdue accounts (underpayments) and refunds (overpayments) of customs duties. For the quarter that began Jan. 1, the interest rates for overpayments remains 2% for corporations and 3% for non-corporations, and the interest rate for underpayments will be 3% for both corporations and non-corporations. These interest rates are subject to change for the following quarter, CBP said.
The Treasury Department published its fall 2021 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda includes a new mention of an interim final rule to implement some major provisions of the USMCA. The agency seems to have missed the listed target date of November 2021 for the interim final rule.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Dec. 29. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Dec. 20-26:
The presidential proclamation amending the Harmonized Tariff Schedule to implement a hefty five-year update will likely be published in the coming days, which would set an effective date in late January for the lengthy list of changes. The White House released the proclamation Dec. 23 (see 2112230012), though a publication date in the Federal Register had not yet been scheduled as of press time. The date of publication triggers a 30-day countdown before the changes take effect.
Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng said her government has filed notice that it is bringing a state-to-state dispute under USMCA over the increase in antidumping and countervailing duties on most Canadian softwood lumber exports. The Commerce Department issued the final results of the reviews in November (see 2112020026).
Meredith DeMent has rejoined Baker McKenzie as a partner in the North America International Commercial Practice Group, based in Washington, D.C., the firm announced. Returning from Sidley Austin, DeMent will grow her practice in which she will counsel companies on "all aspects of US customs and related trade laws, including current and rapidly evolving trade policy, compliance and duty mitigation strategies," the firm said. DeMent previously was an associate at Baker McKenzie from 2013 to 2019.
The Commerce Department set the 12-month 2022 value-added tariff preference level for certain apparel imported directly from Haiti eligible to receive duty-free treatment under the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity Through Partnership for Encouragement Act (HOPE). For the one-year period Dec. 20, 2021, through Dec. 19, 2022, the recalculated quantity of imports eligible for preferential treatment under the value-added TPL is 367,770,223 square meters equivalent (SME). Apparel articles entered in excess of this TPL will be subject to otherwise applicable duty rates.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Dec. 6-12: