The Commerce Department made preliminary affirmative antidumping duty determinations that imports of hexamethylenetetramine (known as hexamine) from China (A-570-180), Germany (A-428-854), India (A-533-932) and Saudi Arabia (A-517-807) are being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value. The agency will generally impose AD cash deposit requirements on entries of subject merchandise beginning May 6.
After President Donald Trump spoke May 8 about a trade deal with the U.K., he took questions from reporters, and one asked whether the U.S. will lower tariffs on China if talks involving Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and China's vice premier go well over the weekend.
CBP cannot unilaterally decide to reliquidate entries that were erroneously liquidated while subject to a suspension order from the Court of International Trade, the trade court held on May 8. Judge Gary Katzmann said an "enjoined party is not empowered to choose and implement the remedy for its own violations of an injunction," writing that that power is the court's alone.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
A May 8 cargo systems message says that for shipments of wild-caught shrimp, Peru will no longer be a valid country code when submitting a PGA Message Set with data for the Office of Marine Conservation. This change pertains to situations where conformance declaration code "7B" is used.
An exemption from reciprocal tariffs for goods subject to Section 232 tariffs only applies if duties are “owed and payable,” CBP said in an update May 8 to its Section 232 tariff FAQ.
The chaotic situation that importers and customs brokers have been facing as tariff policy swings wildly from one extreme to the next is partially due to the fact that CBP is unable to influence policy in the Trump administration, Pete Mento, director of customs and international trade at DSV, said on May 8. Decisions about tariffs are made without expert insight into how their actual implementation will affect the broader trade community, he said.
A U.S.-U.K. trade deal announced in the Oval Office leaves the average tariff on U.K. goods at 10%; however, aerospace engines and parts will enter duty-free.
President Donald Trump said at a press conference May 8 that Rolls-Royce engines and other British aerospace exports will enter duty-free, but the 10% tariffs on British goods will remain in place on all other goods under a tariff deal with the U.K.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the May 7 Federal Register on the following antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) injury, Section 337 patent or other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will be in another ITT article):