A domestic producer coalition filed a petitions April 19 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping and countervailing duties on ceramic tile from India. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CVD orders and the assessment of AD and CVD on importers.
The Commerce Department has issued a Federal Register notice on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on dioctyl terephthalate from Malaysia (A-557-827), Poland (A-455-808), Taiwan (A-583-875) and Turkey (A-489-852) (see 2404170073). The agency will determine whether imports of DOTP are being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value. The investigations cover entries during the period Jan. 1, 2023, through Dec. 31, 2023.
Although all members of the House Ways and Means Committee supported a bill renewing the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, the bill proceeded to the House floor on a split bipartisan vote of 17-24 as Democrats unsuccessfully called to include an extension of the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers program, which lapsed in 2022.
FORT LAUDERDALE -- The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will “hopefully” publish its notice launching Phase VII of Lacey Act Enforcement “in the next two-ish months,” said Erin Otto, of the agency’s Lacey Act program, on April 16. That will trigger a six-month countdown until full enforcement of Phase VII, which covers all non-composite plant products that Lacey Act requirements haven't previously covered.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of April 8-14:
The House Ways and Means Committee is set on April 17 to consider several just-introduced trade bills, including a retroactive extension of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, new restrictions on de minimis and restrictions on electric vehicle tax credits.
A recent bill from House Ways and Means Committee member Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, would change the drawback statute so that items that have a Harmonized Tariff Schedule description beginning with "other" no longer would be ineligible for unused substitution drawback, drawback expert Dave Corn said.
A domestic producer coalition seeks the imposition of new antidumping duties and countervailing duties on epoxy resin from China, India, South Korea and Taiwan, as well as antidumping duties on epoxy resin from Thailand, it said in petitions filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission last week. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CVD orders and the assessment of AD and CVD on importers.
The Commerce Department seeks public comments on any subsidies, including stumpage subsidies, paid by certain countries that exported softwood lumber to the U.S. July 1 through Dec. 31, 2023, it said in a notice. The Softwood Lumber Act of 2008 requires Commerce to submit a report every 180 days on any subsidy provided by nations exporting softwood lumber or softwood products to the U.S., including subsidies for stumpage. Commerce is seeking input on subsidies paid by countries whose exports composed at least 1% of total U.S. softwood imports by quantity, as classified under tariff schedule subheadings 4407.1100, 4407.1200, 4407.1300, 4407.1400 and 4407.1900, the agency said. International Trade Commission Tariff and Trade DataWeb information indicates that five countries -- Austria, Brazil, Canada, Germany and Sweden -- exported that much softwood lumber to the U.S. during that six-month period. Comments are due May 13.
The Court of International Trade on April 10 rejected the preferred tariff classification of notebooks with calendars from both CBP and importer Blue Sky the Color of Imagination, slotting the products under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 4820.10.20.10 as "diaries." Judge Jane Restani explained that the court should prefer readings of the HTS that establish "conformity" across both the English and French translations of the Harmonized System.