A coalition of U.S. manufacturers seeks the imposition of new antidumping and countervailing duties on vertical shaft engines between 225 cc and 999 cc, and parts thereof, from China, it said in a petition filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission Jan. 15. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CV duty orders and the assessment of AD and CV duties on importers.
The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on forged steel fluid end blocks from Germany, India and Italy (A-428-847, A-533-893, A-475-840), as well as its new countervailing duty investigations on forged steel fluid end blocks from Germany, India, Italy and China (C-475-848, C-533-894, C-475-841, C-570-116).
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 6-12:
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 2001 on Jan. 13, containing 10,121 Automated Broker Interface records and 2,123 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records, it said in a CSMS message. The update includes recently announced exclusions to the Section 301 tariffs (see 2001020035). Other changes were needed under the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the trade agreement with Japan (see 1912270025).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Jan. 6-10 in case they were missed.
Nearly seven in every 10 TV sets imported to the U.S. in November originated in Mexico, according to new Census Bureau import data accessed on Jan. 10 through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. November was the third full month that 15 percent List 4A Section 301 tariffs were in force on finished TV sets from China, causing profound shifts in TV-sourcing trends. The U.S. imported 3.66 million TVs from all countries in November, a 22.3 percent decline sequentially and down 40.8 percent from November 2018, DataWeb said. Unit imports for 2019's 11 months declined 4.5 percent year on year to 37.43 million sets.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative posted the transcripts from the hearing on Section 301 tariffs on France (see 2001060040) split over Jan. 7 and Jan. 8.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated with 43 rulings on Jan. 9. The following headquarters rulings not involving carriers were modified on Jan. 9, according to CBP:
U.S. smartphone importers abruptly shifted more sourcing toward Vietnam and less from China in November, the last full month before the scheduled imposition of 15 percent List 4B Section 301 tariffs on Chinese handsets, according to newly released Census Bureau data accessed Jan. 9 through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. The Trump administration suspended the List 4B tariffs Dec. 13, less than 48 hours before they were to take effect, after reaching a phase one trade deal with China.
CBP has assessed about $53 billion in duties under the major trade remedies started during the Trump administration as of Jan. 8, according to CBP's trade statistics page. That includes $42.8 billion in duties from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, and $177.8 billion in Section 301 tariffs on goods from the EU. CBP also has assessed about $6.6 billion under the Section 232 tariffs on steel and $1.9 billion under tariffs on aluminum. The Section 201 trade remedies on washing machines, washing machine parts and solar cells account for $1.4 billion in assessed tariffs. CBP's statistics account for refunds provided to importers, an agency spokesperson said.