The Court of International Trade on Oct. 15 limited the scope of the testimony that will be offered by two of the government's witnesses in a customs spat on the classification of The Comfy, a wearable blanket imported by Cozy Comfort Co. Judge Stephen Vaden said fashion industry professional Patricia Concannon can testify only on topics related to the "sale, marketing, and merchandising of apparel," and that CBP national import specialist Renee Orsat "may not testify about opinions she formed during the Customs’ classification process."
The Commerce Department seeks public comments on any subsidies, including stumpage subsidies, paid by certain countries that exported softwood lumber to the U.S. Jan. 1 through June 30, 2024, 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 Nov. 14.
Bangladesh is the country of origin for blue surgical towels imported by Global Resources International (GRI), CBP said in a notice. GRI had asked CBP to make a final determination on the surgical towels' country of origin on April 12 for the purposes of U.S. government procurement. The towels are made from 100% cotton huckaback weave fabric from Bangladesh, where the fabric is also woven and dyed blue. It's then shipped to Vietnam in rolls, where it's cut to size, sewn, autoclaved, packaged and shipped to the U.S. Because of these factors, the country of origin is Bangladesh, CBP said, outlining its reasoning in the attached ruling HQ H339826). The surgical towels are classified under subheading 6307.90.89 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S.
A domestic producer coalition recently filed petitions with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping and countervailing duties on thermoformed molded fiber products from China and Vietnam. 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 following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 30 - Oct. 6:
The Court of International Trade on Oct. 7 sent a customs classification dispute on truck steps to a bench trial after finding that the undisputed facts are insufficient for conducting a principal use analysis on whether the products are "side protective attachments." Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves held that while a Section 301 exclusion for "side protective attachments" is a principal use provision, and not a provision for an individual product, the court can't at this time properly assess the imports at issue under a principal use framework.
CBP is clarifying how the ACE Entry Type 86 Test governing de minimis shipments applies to customer returns under Chapter 98 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S., according to an Oct. 4 cargo systems message. The agency said a Chapter 98 classification is not applicable if using the Section 321 duty exemption under Type 86. The merchandise would still enter duty-free under Type 86, but the consignee will be subject to the $800/day de minimis limit, CBP said. "Filers should assess whether filing under the Entry Type 86 or filing a formal or informal entry under Chapter 98 is more advantageous when processing returns, as both are permissible," it said.
Sandler Travis managing partner Lenny Feldman said that CBP decided to delay an ACE validation for de minimis shipments to a recipient that would exceed $800 a day, because "they realized when this hits, there's going to be a significant amount of cargo that's going to be above the threshold."
A domestic producer recently filed petitions with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duties on granular hexamethylenetetramine, known as hexamine, from China, Germany, India, and Saudi Arabia, as well as countervailing duties on hexamine from China and 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. Bakelite requested the investigation.
The Commerce Department issued notices in the Federal Register on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on corrosion-resistant steel products from Australia (A-602-812), Brazil (A-351-862), Canada (A-122-871), Mexico (A-201-863), the Netherlands (A-421-818), South Africa (A-791-829), Taiwan (A-583-878), Turkey (A-489-855), the United Arab Emirates (A-520-811) and Vietnam (A-552-843), as well as its countervailing duty investigations on corrosion-resistant steel products from Brazil (C-351-863), Canada (C-122-872), Mexico (C-201-864) and Vietnam (C-552-844). The CVD investigations cover entries for the calendar year 2023. The AD investigations on Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates cover entries July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, and the AD investigation on Vietnam covers entries Jan. 1, 2024, through June 30, 2024.