Customs Duty

The Commerce Department issued notices in the Federal Register on its recently initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on walk-behind snow throwers from China (A-570-141/C-570-142). The CV duty investigation covers entries Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2020. The AD duty investigation covers entries July 1 - Dec. 31, 2020.

The Court of International Trade's newest judge, Stephen Vaden, issued his first opinion with the court on April 21, dismissing tire importer Strategic Import Supply's challenge of CBP's assessment of countervailing duties on its imports of passenger vehicle and light truck tires from China. Vaden found that the importer's protest was filed too late, holding the 180-day deadline for protests runs from the date of liquidation, rather than the date CBP received updated assessment instructions from Commerce after Commerce amended rates set in the relevant CV duty administrative review.

CBP published 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 April 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 next quarter, CBP said.

CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:​

Two domestic producer coalitions filed petitions April 20 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duties on raw honey from Argentina, Brazil, India, Ukraine and Vietnam. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD duty investigations on raw honey from these four countries. The American Honey Producers Association and the Sioux Honey Association.

CBP's process for carrying out Enforce and Protect Act investigations could eventually be found by the courts to be unconstitutional, trade lawyers Jen Diaz and David Craven of Diaz Trade Law said during an April 21 webinar. The EAPA investigations, which seek to determine if a company evaded antidumping or countervailing duty orders, are mostly secret and do not inform entities if they are being investigated or what evidence stands against them.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of April 12-18:

The Court of International Trade found that New York-based importer NYWL Enterprises is on the hook for over $4 million in unpaid duties and civil penalties after the court found the importer knowingly misclassified its entries of Siamese coaxial cable from China. In an April 16 decision, Chief Judge Mark Barnett ordered NYWL to pay the U.S. $379,665.83 in unpaid duties and a civil penalty of $3.76 million plus post-judgment interest, and costs.” The U.S. had alleged fraudulent violations of 19 USC 1592, which Barnett accepted as true after NYWL failed to defend itself.

The Office of Management and Budget should restart consideration of a proposal to end the de minimis exemption for goods subject to Section 301 tariffs, the National Council of Textile Organizations said in an April 14 letter to acting OMB Director Robert Fairweather. The review of the proposal began at OMB last year (see 2009040026) but was removed as part of a broad regulatory freeze after President Joe Biden took office (see 2101210039). OMB should reopen the review and “grant approval to this much needed change in CBP regulations,” NCTO said.

Broad disagreement separates the HMTX-Jasco plaintiffs from the government in the massive Section 301 litigation over the issue of whether importers who prevail on the merits of the case would be entitled to tariff refunds on customs entries for which liquidations become final, according to a joint status report filed April 12 with the Court of International Trade.