U.S. retailers will move their supply chains out of Africa and into Asia should Congress not renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act or change the third-country fabric provision for the region, according to trade groups representing domestic U.S. apparel retailers.
The U.S. filed a complaint on July 15 in a case against importer Global Office Furniture and its owner Malcom Smith for allegedly violating the False Claims Act by knowingly underpaying duties on imported office chairs, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina announced. The case was originally filed in March 2020 by Sharon Joyce, former office manager for Global Office Furniture (United States v. Global Office Furniture, D.S.C. # 2:20-01223).
Trade observers are waiting for more information about whether Aug. 1 tariffs on Canada and Mexico will include goods that currently qualify for duty-free treatment under USMCA, according to comments by Flexport officials during a July 16 webinar.
The Commerce Department has released amended final results of the antidumping duty and countervailing duty administrative reviews on aluminum extrusions from China (A-570-967/C-570-968), originally published Feb. 8, 2022, and Feb. 9, 2022, respectively, to align with the final decision in a court case that challenged the inclusion of one company, Kingtom Aluminio, in the reviews and the assignment of duties in those results.
CBP provides guidance on applying Section 232 auto tariffs (see 2504020081) on non-U.S. content for imports of passenger vehicles and light trucks that also qualify for preferential tariff treatment under USMCA (see 2505190061), in a July 16 cargo systems message.
The Senate passed a bill that directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to develop a methodology to identify the country of origin of imported red snapper and some tuna species. The goal is for CBP to be able to confiscate illegally caught red snapper and tuna at the time of import.
DOJ's criminal division has identified trade fraud as a top priority, assigning its market integrity and major frauds unit to handle tariff evasion cases, a DOJ official confirmed to us. The official said that the major frauds unit is shifting resources to trade and looking to cases involving "long-running frauds, senior executives, and large volumes of alleged losses from unlawful tariff evasion schemes."
How the Trump administration chooses to define transshipment has the potential to redefine the current trading system with Southeast Asian countries, trade lawyers said. The recent trade deal framework with Vietnam contained a 40% tariff rate for "transshipped" goods, which is a different approach than previously employed for transshipment (see 2507080028).
Suspension of liquidation and antidumping duty cash deposit requirements take effect July 14 for imports of fresh tomatoes from Mexico (A-201-820), after the Commerce Department withdrew from the latest in a series of agreements suspending the duties since 1996.
The Commerce Department is beginning an anti-circumvention inquiry to determine whether all imports of disposable aluminum containers, pans, trays, and lids from Thailand and Vietnam that are made from Chinese aluminum foil are circumventing antidumping and countervailing duties on disposable aluminum containers from China (A-570-170/C-570-171), it said in a notice released July 10.