House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) introduced Dec. 7 long-awaited legislation meant to modernize CBP and other customs-related agencies.
The International Trade Administration issued the final results of the administrative review of the countervailing duty order on circular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes from Turkey (A-489-502), which sets de minimis1 CV cash deposit rate for two companies, Marsan2 and Bellini.3 These rates are effective Nov. 21, and will be implemented by CBP soon.
Yama Ribbons and Bows appealed a Sept. 14 Court of International Trade decision affirming a 1.56 percent countervailing duty rate in the investigation of certain narrow woven ribbons with woven selvedge from China (C-570-953). Yama argued that it was affiliated with a Hong Kong company, and so the International Trade Administration should have used sales from the company based in Hong Kong to the U.S. to calculate its CV duty rate. Instead, the ITA used sales from Yama, which is based in China, to the Hong Kong company. When the ITA used sales from China to Hong Kong in its preliminary determination, Yama was assigned a de minimis CV duty rate. But the evidence showing Yama was affiliated with the Hong Kong company were only placed on the record of the companion antidumping duty investigation. CIT said the two investigations were separate proceedings, and Yama should have placed the evidence on the record of the CV investigation. The ITA would have violated its own regulations by placing the information on the CV investigation record on its own initiative, it said.
CBP issued its instructions for the U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement (PATPA), which takes effect for qualifying goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after Oct. 31, 2012. The notice gives an overview of the PATPA rules of origin, as well as instructions for handling WCO tariff number discrepancies. CBP also provides information on its process for verifying importer claims, the SPI "PA", post-importation claims and protests, etc.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is changing the inspection fees required for imports and exports of wildlife by licensed businesses, it said in a Federal Register notice scheduled for Oct. 26. It said it has been made aware that the fees may place an undue economic burden on businesses that exclusively trade in small volumes of low-value, non-Federally protected wildlife parts and products. As a result, it said it's implementing a program that exempts certain businesses from the designated port base inspection fees as an interim measure while the Service reassesses its current user fee system.
The Internet allows "microbusinesses" to thrive in sales abroad, and the U.S. government should develop policies to encourage that growth, said e-commerce and trade experts at a panel discussion hosted by eBay and the National Foreign Trade Council Oct. 24. The event coincided with eBay's release of a report focused on how 97 percent of its commercial users, including small sellers, use the website to sell to customers abroad. The U.S. government can take steps, both within its own policies and when negotiating trade agreements with other nations, to help Internet-enabled small businesses grow, panelists said, echoing the findings and suggestions in the report. The eBay report is available (here).
The International Trade Administration recently initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on hardwood and decorative plywood from China (A-570-986 and C-570-987, respectively). The ITA will determine whether imports of hardwood plywood from China are being, or are likely to be, sold in the U.S. at less than fair value, and whether manufacturers, producers, or exporters of hardwood plywood from China receive countervailable subsidies.
CBP is adopting a final rule amending its regulations for the preferential tariff treatment and other customs-related provisions of the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA or Peru FTA) by adding a new subpart Q to 19 CFR Part 10, etc., the agency said in a Oct. 18 Federal Register notice. CBP said it received no comments on its interim final rule, adopted in November, and only made a technical change from the interim rule, available (here).
CBP will issue an interim rule, effective Sept. 26 that amends CBP regulations to implement the customs-related provisions of the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Act (CTPA). Comments must be received by Nov. 26. The notice is ran in the Federal Register Sept. 26.
The International Trade Administration issued the preliminary results of the administrative review of the countervailing duty order on corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products from Korea (C-580-818) for two companies. The CV rates for all three companies under review were preliminarily found to be de minimis1. These CV rates are not in effect. The ITA may modify them in the final results of this review and change the estimated CV cash deposit rate for these companies.