The Chinese Customs Tariff Commission of State Council authorized on Sept. 18 the Chinese government to impose provisional countervailing duties on companies that import Solar-Grade Polysilicon from the U.S. The collection of CV duty cash deposits will take effect on Sept. 20. The companies must pay corresponding security deposits “in light of the ad valorem subsidy rate determined by this preliminary ruling.” At the request of domestic industry, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce launched an investigation into the Solar-Grade Polysilicon products in July (see 13072617). This preliminary ruling concludes the subsidies for the products caused substantial damage to China’s domestic industry.

The Census Bureau sent out AES Broadcast #2013079 as part of a series of monthly educational broadcast messages on fatal errors in the Automated Export System. This month Census is highlighting AES error codes 545 (BIS License Number Unknown) and 547 (BIS License Number Missing). The broadcast covers the reasons for these error messages and how to resolve them:

The U.S. Census Bureau scheduled required maintenance outages for its AESDirect program. During the two extended outages, the AESDirect system will not be available for EEI filing. Census strongly encourages AESDirect program participants to file shipments prior to the following outages:

The Dominion Cove Point facility received approval Sept. 11 from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to non-Free Trade Agreement (FTA) countries. By January, DOE had only granted Dominion permission to act as an agent for LNG exports (See 13010730) and to export to countries with FTAs. The facilities were formerly expected to cost between $2.5 billion and $3.5 billion, but are now projected to cost between $3.4 billion and $3.8 billion, Dominion said. Pending receipt of regulatory approval and permits, Dominion said construction is scheduled to begin in 2014, with an in-service date of 2017. The construction will primarily involve adding liquefaction capability to Dominion’s existing infrastructure on the Chesapeake Bay in Lusby, Md.

The Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC) will host a compliance seminar on the Automated Export System (AES), along with an AESPcLink Workshop, in Washington, D.C. from Sept. 26-27. During the Sept. 26 compliance seminar, U.S. Census Bureau experts will cover:

The Bureau of Industry and Security is asking for comments by Oct. 7 on the effect of existing foreign policy-based export controls in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Under the Export Administration Act, export controls maintained for foreign policy purposes require annual extension. Part of this process is an annual report to Congress. Comments will be made available for public and section and copying, and included in this report, BIS said.

Japan will raise tariff rates to 17.4 percent on certain U.S. steel, bearings, and other industrial products as part of a Sept. 1 renewal of countermeasures against the Continued Dumping and Subsidization Offset Act, also known as the Byrd Amendment. The tariff rates were previously set at 4 percent, according to Japan.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im) has authorized $1.5 billion in export financing to support U.S. exports of goods and services to Mexico’s national gas and oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Ex-Im said on Aug. 29. The financing will come in a pair of transactions, which Ex-Im said will support around 6,800 U.S. jobs and includes drilling platforms, equipment rentals, pumps and associated spare parts, and chemicals. In order to fund these transactions, Pemex will issue Ex-Im-guaranteed bonds in the capital markets, according to a press release. “These two transactions will increase the flow of American exports to one of our neighbors and in the process support large-and small-business jobs across America,” said Ex-Im President Fred Hochberg.

The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued a name change on Aug. 22:

CBP is in the process of developing an export component to the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorist (C-TPAT) meant to address security risks posed by exports in the international supply chain, said Acting Director of Imports/Exports in the CBP Office of Field Operations Ted Clifton said during an Aug. 21 webinar held by Integration Point. Clifton said C-TPAT is “an emerging concept for exports”.