Japan to Extend and Reduce Byrd Amendment Sanctions on Two U.S. Products
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has issued a press release announcing that the Cabinet of Japan will approve the extension for another year of its retaliatory measures against the U.S. in connection with the U.S.' continued disbursement of antidumping and countervailing duty revenues under the Byrd Amendment.1
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However, Japan intends to lower the retaliatory duty rate it has been placing on certain items from 10.6% to 9.6%.
(Japan's previous retaliatory measures were to expire on August 31, 2009. According to METI, a formal decision on the next applicable period of retaliatory measures was to have been made at the Cabinet of Japan's meeting on August 11, 2009.)
Japan to Reduce Retaliation Due to Reduced Byrd Amendment Distributions
METI states that as distributions under the Byrd Amendment in the last year have been reduced, the Japanese government intends to reduce the tariff rates for extended countermeasures.
Reduced Retaliatory Duty Will be Imposed on Certain Ball/Roller Bearings
According to METI, the Government of Japan intends to impose for one year a retaliatory duty of 9.6% (reduced from 10.6%) on the following two items; corresponding Japanese tariff numbers are also listed):
Ball bearings: 8482.10; and
Tapered roller bearings, including cone and tapered roller assemblies: 8482.20.
1The U.S. repealed the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (CDSOA, aka Byrd Amendment) in 2006 after the World Trade Organization (WTO) found it infringed WTO rules. However, the repeal called for a delayed effective date of October 1, 2007. This delay, and the fact that reimbursements have continued after the effective date, have led certain trading partners to continue WTO-authorized retaliatory measures.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 06/03/08 news, 08060315, for BP summary of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's notice of intent to distribute FY 2008 antidumping/countervailing duty revenues to affected domestic producers.
See ITT's Online Archives or 03/06/08 news, 08030642, for BP summary of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's (CAFC's) ruling that the CDSOA does not apply to imports from Canada and Mexico.
See ITT's Online Archives or 02/25/08 news, 08022515, for BP summary of the Office of Textile and Apparel's notice that the European Union and Japan will continue to apply retaliatory duties on certain U.S. exports until all Byrd Amendment disbursements cease.
See ITT's Online Archives or 02/10/06 news, 06021005, for BP summary of the bill which repealed the Byrd Amendment.
See ITT's Online Archives or 04/20/07 and 11/15/06 news, 07042005 and 06111520, for BP summaries of the European Commission's (EC's) 2007 and 2006 extensions of Byrd Amendment sanctions, respectively.
See ITT's Online Archives or 08/05/05 news, 05080520, for BP summary of Japan's initial imposition of the retaliatory measures in 2005.)
METI press release (dated 08/07/09) available at http://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/data/20090807_01.html