A coalition of domestic manufacturers filed a petition on June 30 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duties on seamless refined copper pipe and tube from Vietnam. Commerce will now decide whether to begin an AD duty investigation. The investigation was requested by the American Copper Tube Coalition, which consists of Mueller Group and Cerro Flow Products.
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.
A domestic manufacturer filed a petition on June 26 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new countervailing duties on phosphate fertilizers from Morocco and Russia. Commerce will now decide whether to begin a CV duty investigation. The investigation was requested by The Mosaic Company.
Four U.S. manufacturers seek the imposition of new antidumping and countervailing duties on standard steel welded wire mesh from Mexico, they said in a petition filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission June 29. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CV duty orders and the assessment of AD and CV duties on importers.
CBP is issuing an interim final rule to implement rules of origin provisions for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that will take effect July 1. The interim rule creates new Part 182 to the customs regulations for USMCA, and amends existing NAFTA regulations under 19 CFR Part 181 so that they no longer apply to entries on or after July 1. Most of 19 CFR Part 182 is vacant, but CBP says it will fill out the regulations over the coming year. Comments on the interim regulations are due Aug. 31.
CBP on June 29 posted a series of fact sheets on upcoming requirements under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that are set to take effect July 1. The fact sheets highlight key differences between USMCA and NAFTA, including in the areas of customs duties, temporary admission, treatment of customs duties, most favored nation tariff rates, indirect materials and intermediate materials. Others cover USMCA provisions on regional value content, accumulation, recovered materials, sets and kits, accessories, remanufactured goods and fungible materials. The fact sheets should be considered guidance documents for informational and advisory purposes only, and are not intended to have legal or binding effect, CBP said.
The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on passenger vehicle and light truck tires from South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam (A-580-908, A-583-869, A-549-842, A-552-828), and countervailing duty investigation on passenger vehicle and light truck tires from Vietnam (C-552-829).
The Commerce Department issued notices in the Federal Register on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on walk-behind lawn mowers from China and Vietnam (A-570-129, A-552-830), and its countervailing duty investigation on the same product from China (C-570-130). The CV duty investigation covers entries Jan. 1, 2019, through Dec. 31, 2019. The AD duty investigations cover entries Oct. 1, 2019, through March 31, 2020.
Generally, an entry is liquidated after 314 days, but Geodis customs brokers told an audience of fashion industry professionals that there have been cases in which liquidation came early, and there was not enough time left to do a protest in order to get a refund after an exclusion was granted. The brokers spoke during a webinar hosted by the U.S. Fashion Industry Association.
CBP recently issued refunds to an importer of recordkeeping penalties collected by way of a federal law that allows federal and state agencies to withhold tax refunds and other payments to settle debts owed to the government. The checks are part of a settlement to resolve a lawsuit filed by A&K Railroad Materials challenging CBP’s use of offset provisions of the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 to collect the penalties. A&K argued the law can’t be used to collect customs debts.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told two senators concerned about retaliatory tariffs in India that the U.S. is working on restoring India to the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, but that it's slow going. “We’re in the process of restoring it if we can get an adequate counterbalancing proposal from them,” he told Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who had complained that American apples are now taxed at 70% in India because of Section 232 tariffs on metals from that country.