Former Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Martha Bárcena said that she has been told that the U.S. will not comply with the panel ruling that said that rollup was understood to be part of the automotive rule of origin (see 2403070067), and she said that is undermining USMCA. She said that's because both the Republicans and the Democrats are fighting for the political support of the United Autoworkers and Teamsters. (The autoworkers' union characterizes rollup as watering down the requirement for North American content in vehicles).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Oct. 8 said the Court of International Trade improperly rejected the Commerce Department's inclusion of door thresholds imported by Worldwide Door Components and Columbia Aluminum Products in the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on aluminum extrusions from China. Judges Sharon Prost, Richard Linn and Todd Hughes said Commerce adequately explained on remand that the door thresholds are subassemblies and thus not qualified for the finished merchandise exception.
Claimed price reductions related to changes in packaging costs for Chinese-origin packaged power units for electronic vaporizing devices may not be considered when determining the transaction value of the imported good, according to a recently released CBP ruling.
The Government Accountability Office, in a report required by the Dodd-Frank Act to assess the effectiveness of tracing regimes for conflict minerals, found the law hasn't reduced violence in the Congo, and may have increased violence around some small gold mines.
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.
The Commerce Department is amending the published final results of an antidumping duty administrative review on stainless steel flanges India (A-533-877), based on a settlement reached in a court case challenging those final results. Commerce calculated revised AD rates for certain exporters that were not selected for individual examination. The new rates are applicable Oct. 4, 2024.
The Commerce Department is amending the Aug. 5, 2019, final results of an antidumping duty administrative review on multilayered wood flooring from China (A-570-970) based on the final decision in a court case challenging those final results. Commerce calculated a revised AD rate for exporters that were eligible for a separate rate but not selected for individual examination, changing it from 42.57% to 31.63%. The new rate is applicable Sept. 28, 2024.
CBP has issued a formal determination that affirms that 12 importers evaded antidumping and countervailing duties for transshipping Chinese-origin mattresses through South Korea. The importers also had claimed that the country of origin for the mattresses was South Korea.
Eight Republicans, led by Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., asked the Commerce Department to reconsider how importers of hardwood plywood can participate in a certification regime, so that CBP knows those imports are not within the scope of an anti-circumvention case on Vietnamese hardwood plywood with Chinese inputs.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, in responses to Senate Finance Committee members, talked about changes needed in USMCA, declined to endorse a permanent e-commerce tariff moratorium and called for more money for CBP, to address Section 301 tariff circumvention.