The International Trade Administration is set to issue antidumping and countervailing duty orders on large residential washers from Korea, and an AD duty order on large residential washers from Mexico, after the International Trade Commission voted unanimously Jan. 23 that U.S. industry is being injured by imports of the merchandise. In its final determinations, the ITA found AD and CV rates for Korean washers of 9.29 to 82.41 percent, and de minimis to 72.3 percent, respectively. The ITA found AD rates of 36.52 to 72.41 percent for Mexican companies. Korea and Mexico were the two largest exporters of large residential washers to the U.S. in 2011, sending $1 billion of the merchandise into the U.S. Other countries only exported $155 million worth in 2011.
The increases to informal entry levels in the U.S. and Canada will be a boon to small and medium businesses that deal with low value imports of components, samples and raw materials, said the Express Association of America in a press release. CBP and the Canada Border Services Agency recently increased the value threshold for informal entry from $2,000 (CND1600) to $2,500 (CND2500). Importers of low value goods "will save a significant amount of time from not having to file formal entries and the streamlined release of their products," said the EAA.
A Canadian government plan to increase the low value shipment (LVS) threshold to CAN$2,500 and align it with the U.S. threshold won cheers from the Retail Council of Canada. The LVS threshold affects all commercial and casual goods entering Canada through the Canada Border Service Agency's commercial processes, RCC said. The previous threshold for expedited clearance was for goods under $1,600. Raising the limit will help cut backlogs, which can cause headaches for retailers, particularly smaller ones, said RCC President Diane Brisebois. When today’s consumer wants a product, it must be supplied immediately, she said.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices for Jan. 7 (Note that some may also be given separate headlines.)
The International Trade Administration issued its final affirmative countervailing duty determination on large residential washers from Korea (C-580-869), which increased the CV rates for most Korean companies. Although this final determination takes effect Dec. 26, ITA will only require CV cash deposits of estimated CV duties if it issues a CV order.
The recent list of accomplishments as part of the U.S.-Canada "Beyond the Border" action plan points to good work by both governments in improving trade processing between the countries, said the Express Association of America (EAA) in a statement. “The progress we see on implementing the Beyond the Border Action Plan is very encouraging,” said Michael Mullen, Executive Director of the EAA. “The agreement has very ambitious deadlines for establishing new trade facilitation measures, but both Governments are fully engaged in meeting the targets."
Korean exports of large residential washers to the U.S. are being dumped and subsidized, and Mexican exports dumped, said the International Trade Administration, announcing its final determination in the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations. AD cash deposit rates for Korean and Mexican large residential washers range from 9.23 to 79.11 percent, and 36.52 to 72.41 percent, respectively. CV cash deposits for Korean large residential washers range from de minimis to 72.3 percent. Because it received a de minimis in the CV duty investigation, any eventual CV duty order will not apply to the company. The International Trade Commission is set to issue its final injury determination by Feb. 1, and AD/CV duty orders will issue only if the ITC finds injury.
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed and remanded the International Trade Administration’s calculation of Jiangsu Jianghai’s separate rate from the antidumping duty investigation of 1-hydroxyethylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid (HEDP) from China (A-570-934). CAFC said the ITA acted arbitrarily when it built a penalty to deter noncompliance into Jiangsu Jinghai’s non-individual separate rate, even though the company cooperated. Judge Reyna dissented, arguing that CAFC improperly expanded Jiangsu Jianghai’s arguments and applied the wrong standard of review, and said the decision will have “grave consequences” on the application of U.S. antidumping statutes.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 10-14 in case they were missed.
The legislation introduced Dec. 7 by House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) to modernize CBP and other customs-related agencies would set a minimum standard for the amount of information customs brokers would be required to collect about an importer.