The International Trade Administration issued the preliminary results of its antidumping duty administrative review of frozen warmwater shrimp from Vietnam (A-570-893). The ITA preliminarily decided not to grant Nha Trang's request for revocation, because the company did not receive a zero or de minimis AD rate in last year's administrative review. These preliminary results are not in effect. The ITA may modify them in the final results of this review and change the estimated AD cash deposit rate for this company.
The International Trade Administration issued the preliminary results of its antidumping duty administrative review of frozen warmwater shrimp from Thailand (A-549-822). The ITA found preliminary AD rates of zero and 0.51 percent for mandatory respondents Marine Gold and Thai Union, respectively, and assigned an AD rate of 0.51 percent to 148 companies that were not individually reviewed. Marine Gold's preliminary zero AD rate would be its third consecutive zero or de minimis AD rate if confirmed in the final results, so the ITA said it intends to revoke in part the AD duty order for Marine Gold if it continues its finding. The ITA also preliminarily rescinded the review for Tanaya. These preliminary results are not in effect. The ITA may modify them in the final results of this review and change the estimated AD cash deposit rate for this company.
Two Senate Finance Committee members and a House Republican have proposed a $600 raise in the de minimis level, for the maximum value of articles that can be imported informally and duty-free by one person in one day. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., introduced a bill (S- 489) on March 7 to increase the de minimis from $200 to $800. In the House, Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., introduced the same bill (HR-1020) on March 6. Schock is a member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade.
The International Trade Administration announced its preliminary affirmative countervailing duty determination on hardwood and decorative plywood from China (C-570-986), finding de minimis CV duty rates for the three individual respondents. According to the ITA fact sheet, companies that didn’t respond to the ITA’s questionnaires were assigned a CV duty rate of 27.16 percent, and the all others rate was set at 22.63 percent. The ITA will direct CBP to suspend liquidation and collect CV duty cash deposits based on these preliminary rates. The final CV duty determination is due in July, at the same time as the companion antidumping duty final determination, although both deadlines may be extended.
The International Trade Administration issued the final results of the 2009-10 antidumping duty administrative review of diamond sawblades and parts thereof from China (A-570-900), finding AD rates of de minimis to 9.55 percent and rescinding the review for one company.1 The final results come over a year after the ITA's Dec. 6, 2011, preliminary results because the ITA was investigating fraud allegations that could have resulted in unreliable data for Chinese companies. A court challenge was even filed, and subsequently dismissed, seeking to make the ITA issue the final results (see ITT's Online Archives 12121003 for summary). In the end, the ITA found that the data in question was untainted by the fraud, and reliable. The new rates are effective Feb. 15, and will be implemented by CBP soon.
The third consecutive zero or de minimis antidumping duty rate received by Pastificio Attilio Mastromauro Granoro S.r.L. will result in revocation of the AD duty order for the company, said David Simon, counsel for Granoro. The company received its third consecutive zero rate in the Feb. 8 final results of the antidumping duty administrative review of pasta from Italy (A-475-818). The AD duty order will no longer apply to Granoro, so pasta exported by the company will not be subject to suspension of liquidation or cash deposit requirements.
The International Trade Administration issued the final results of the antidumping duty administrative review of pasta from Italy (A-475-818) for five companies, finding AD rates of zero to 5.11 percent. Granoro had its third consecutive zero or de minimis AD rate, qualifying the company for revocation. The title of the Federal Register notice indicated a revocation in part, but nowhere in the body of the notice did the ITA indicate the AD duty order no longer applies to Granoro. (UPDATE: David Simon, counsel for Granoro, confirmed that the AD duty order is being revoked in part for Granoro.) The new rates are effective Feb. 8, and will be implemented by CBP soon.
An update to the widely disparate customs regulations in the U.S. and abroad would make for significant cost savings, even more so than the relaxation of tariffs, said panelists Jan. 31 who spoke at an event on reducing supply chain barriers. The event, hosted by the Washington International Trade Association, focused on the findings of a recent World Bank report that said the lowering of supply chain barriers would be of a greater benefit to international trade than tariff removal alone. The World Bank report is available (here).
New lobbyist registrations on trade issues include:
Getting an international playing field that is fair to U.S. trade is the key for American jobs and companies, should be the top priority for the second Obama administration, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a new report. It said the U.S. market is largely open to imports, but many other countries continue to levy steep tariffs on U.S. exports, and foreign governments have erected other barriers against U.S. goods and services.