China Artist Canvas. Product Woven and Primed in India Not Subject to AD Duties

Artist canvases exported by Jiangsu Animal By-Products Import & Export Corp. that are woven and primed in India before being cut and stretched in China are not subject to antidumping duties on artist canvas from China (A-570-899), said the Commerce Department in a scope ruling issued July 23. During the original AD duty investigation on artist canvas from China in 2006, Commerce found that the weaving and priming of artist canvases give them their essential character, and subsequent cutting and weaving does not alter that character. It inserted a phrase in the scope that said “canvas woven and primed in India but cut and stretched in [China] and exported from [China] is not subject to the order.” In its scope ruling request, Jiangsu Animal By-Products submitted a certification from its Indian supplier that the canvases were woven and stretched in India, as well as excerpts from its supplier’s website, purchase and import documentation, and evidence of its operations in China. Commerce said it found the evidence sufficient to prove the company’s canvases qualify for the exemption for “artist canvas woven and primed in a third country.”