The Court of International Trade on Nov. 12 dismissed an importer’s challenge to the antidumping duty rate it was assessed following completion of an administrative review that covered its Chinese exporter. Intercontinental Chemicals (ICC) should have participated in the administrative review if it wanted to challenge its exporter’s oversight that led to the assessments at a rate of 154.07%, rather than the zero rate the exporter was assigned in the review, CIT said.
CBP has been swamped with hundreds of thousands of protests related to Section 301 litigation on lists 3 and 4A China tariffs, as importers seek to preserve their rights to refunds if the lawsuits are successful, Robert Silverman of Grunfeld Desiderio said Nov. 9. Negotiations are ongoing with the Department of Justice to untether claims from liquidation dates, which would free importers from potentially having to file the protests to protect their rights, Silverman said, speaking at the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade’s virtual Northeast Cargo Symposium. “We’re trying to get DOJ to agree that liquidation is irrelevant. If they do, then we can stop filing these silly protests,” he said.
A product must include non-extruded aluminum parts to qualify for the finished merchandise exemption from antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum extrusions from China (A-570-967/C-570-968), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a Nov. 6 decision. Aluminum pallets imported by Perfectus Aluminum don’t have any such parts, and are covered by the AD/CVD orders, the appeals court said, affirming a Commerce Department scope ruling.
A license fee paid to an unrelated company for the right to use an eco-friendly resin in the manufacture of shoe insoles and other fashion accessories is dutiable, and should be added to the price paid or payable for customs valuation purposes, CBP said in a recent ruling. The license fee paid by Weyco Group to an unnamed company meets the requirements of the three-factor test for dutiability, CBP said in HQ H312455, issued Oct. 28.
Face masks made in Ethiopia from fabric and other materials sourced from Thailand are products of Thailand, and are not eligible for duty benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, CBP said in a ruling issued Oct. 22 and posted to the agency’s online database on Nov. 2.
CBP issued a CSMS message Nov. 2 detailing changes to eligibility for Generalized System of Preferences duty benefits as a result of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s 2020 GSP review. Effective Nov. 1, fresh-cut roses are newly eligible for GSP, while par-boiled rice is no longer eligible for duty-free treatment under the program. USTR also declared six county-product pairs ineligible for exceeding competitive needs limitations (CNLs), and will allow 24 country-product pairs that exceeded CNLs to remain eligible under de minimis waivers.
Weighted blankets that are filled with glass beads for additional heft are classifiable as blankets, not as quilts, in the tariff schedule, CBP said in an Oct. 5 ruling. As imported by Franco Manufacturing, the weighted blankets aren’t sized to fit standard mattresses, as are quilts that are used as bedspreads, and the quilts are generally filled with soft materials, rather than hard materials like glass beads, CBP said in HQ H305101.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service is adopting as final an overhaul of its regulations on eggs and egg products, including provisions on imports. Many of the changes align the FSIS egg product regulations with current requirements for meat and poultry, FSIS said. Egg product processing plants will now have to implement Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems and sanitation standard operating procedures (SOP). The proposed rule also streamlines egg product labeling regulations, and adds new provisions on imports, including on marking, procedures for imports refused entry and re-importation of egg products returned from foreign countries.
CBP’s forced labor operations are being undermined by staff shortages that have resulted in investigations being suspended or not conducted at all, as well as a failure by CBP to conduct reviews of withhold release orders unless prodded by importers, the Government Accountability Office said in a report issued Oct. 27.
FDA will continue conducting remote inspections of importers for Foreign Supplier Verification Program compliance in fiscal year 2021, Nancy Saxenian-Emmons, an FDA supervisory consumer safety officer who leads the agency’s West Coast FSVP inspection program, said during a remote session of the Western Cargo Conference on Oct. 22.