Window wall kits imported by Reflection Window + Wall are not subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum extrusions from China (A-570-967/C-570-968), the Commerce Department said in a scope ruling issued April 26. The window wall kits qualify for the finished goods kit exemption, and are distinct from curtain wall units ineligible for exemptions from aluminum extrusions duties, Commerce said.
A newly issued CBP ruling further clarifies how the agency determines country of origin for electric motors. After having recently found that the stator and the rotor are the “most essential components” of an electric motor and, under a substantial transformation analysis, determine the country of origin (see 2104210041), the agency on April 22 issued another ruling that considered motors where the rotor and stator were made in different countries, and found the stator assembly controlling.
Chests of drawers imported by Mitchell Gold are covered by antidumping duties on wooden bedroom furniture from China (A-570-970), but separately imported metal bases and drawer pulls for those chests are not, the Commerce Department said in a scope ruling issued April 19.
Solar modules made from unfinished solar cells imported from China into Vietnam for finishing are likely subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules, from China (A-570-979/C-570-980), the Commerce Department said in a preliminary scope ruling issued March 30. The country where the p/n junction is formed on the cells determines country of origin, which in the case of these cells is China, Commerce said.
The Commerce Department will delay a requirement for aluminum import licenses under its new Aluminum Import Monitoring System until June 28, CBP said in a CSMS message sent March 29. “At the request of the Department of Commerce the [Aluminum Import Monitoring] license requirement has been delayed until June 28, 2021,” CBP said. “We have updated ACE to remove the LPC requirement.”
Sewing thread made from polyester textured yarn is still subject to antidumping and countervailing duty orders on polyester textured yarn from India and China (A-533-885/C-533-886, A-570-097/C-570-098), the Commerce Department said in a March 22 scope ruling. The importer of the thread, American & Efird, had argued sewing thread is not subject to the AD/CVD orders, but Commerce found the duties cover polyester textured yarn in “all forms.”
CBP is embarking “in earnest” on a process to develop a legislative package on a scale not seen since the Customs Modernization Act of 1993, said John Leonard, CBP executive director-trade policy and programs, at the March 17 meeting of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee. Coming out of the agency’s work on the 21st Century Customs Framework (see 2011120010), the effort will begin with a new task force to provide a transparent “vehicle” to work with the trade community on the details of the legislation.
The International Trade Commission released the 2021 Basic Edition of the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule March 15. The new edition, which follows three “preliminary” updates issued earlier this year, implements the recently announced four-month pause on Section 301 tariffs on goods from the United Kingdom, effective March 4 (see 2103040043). It also adds a new provision on the USMCA tariff-rate quota for sugar-containing products from Canada. The four-month suspension of Section 301 tariffs on all European Union goods, which took effect March 11 (see 2103120047), is not implemented in this edition.
All cedar shakes and shingles are exempt from antidumping and countervailing duties on softwood lumber from Canada (A-122-857/C-122-858), not just certain categories, the Commerce Department said in a March 12 scope ruling. Despite circumvention concerns from domestic lumber producers, Commerce found no justification to apply the court-ordered exemption to some high-grade cedar shakes and shingles but not to lower grade products.
CBP will allow importers to continue to use Part 102 NAFTA marking rules for goods imported from Canada and Mexico, even though they are no longer a requirement for USMCA preferences, said James Kim, a lawyer with CBP’s Office of Regulations and Rulings currently working at the agency’s USMCA center, during a Zoom call following a panel discussion March 9.