International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 25-29 in case they were missed.
Customs Duty
A Customs Duty is a tariff or tax which a country imposes on goods when they are transported across international borders. Customs Duties are used to protect countries' economies, residents, jobs, and environments, by limiting the flow of imported merchandise, especially restricted and prohibited goods, into the country. The Customs Duty Rate is a percentage determined by the value of the article purchased in the foreign country and not based on quality, size, or weight.
The Justice Department settled a fraud lawsuit involving customs duty evasion with Notations, a garment wholesaler, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said in an Oct. 3 news release. The wholesaler, Notations, will pay $1 million in damages and implement compliance measures as part of the settlement, it said. The DOJ filed a civil suit last year against Notations and an importer, Yingshun Garments (see 1609280038).
The Supreme Court on Oct. 2 declined to hear an appeal of a recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit that False Claims Act whistleblower lawsuits may be filed for failure to pay marking duties on unmarked or improperly marked imports. A lower court had in 2015 dismissed the lawsuit (see 1504290070), filed against the pipe fitting importer Victaulic by Customs Fraud Investigations, a company founded to investigate customs fraud, before it was resurrected by the appeals court (see 1610060030). Victaulic subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court, which denied certiorari in the case without comment.
The Chemours Company filed a petition on Sept. 28 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duties on polytetrafluoroethylene resin from China and India, as well as new countervailing duties on PTFE resin from India. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations on PTFE resin that could eventually result in the assessment of AD/CV duties. PTFE resin is more commonly known by Chemours' trade name "Teflon."
A customs broker may seek indemnification from an importer client during a Court of International Trade penalty case, even if the broker’s terms and conditions specify a different court for any lawsuits related to the broker’s services, the Court of International Trade said in a Sept. 29 decision. CIT has jurisdiction to hear all cross-claims for relief from liability on entries subject to a trade case, so UPS Supply Chain Solutions may sue its importer client Majestic Mills as part of a government penalty case related to entries on which UPS acted as broker, it said.
SolarWorld is suggesting that the International Trade Commission recommend to the White House both a tariff and quota on crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cells, and is supporting Suniva’s request for an initial price floor of $0.74 per watt, according to documents filed with the ITC. The ITC on Sept. 22 announced an affirmative injury determination in its Section 201 safeguard investigation on CSPV cells (see 1709220044). The investigation now moves to a remedy phase, wherein the ITC will hold a hearing on Oct. 3 to determine what remedies, if any, should be proposed, and is expected to send the president its final report of potential recommendations for remedial action by Nov. 13.
A group of domestic plastics manufacturers filed a petition on Sept. 25 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duties on polyethylene terephthalate resin from Brazil, Indonesia, South Korea, Pakistan and Taiwan. Commerce will now decide whether to begin an AD duty investigation on PET resin from these five countries. DAK Americas, Indorama Ventures, M&G Polymers USA and Nan Ya America filed the petition
CBP Buffalo should not have denied duty-free treatment as U.S. goods returned for polo shirts screen-printed in Canada on the basis that the shirts were not originally “sold for exportation to the U.S.,” CBP said in a recent internal advice ruling. A sale for export to the U.S. is not necessary to claim classification under subheading 9802.00.50, CBP said in HQ H264961. But the goods still don’t qualify for classification in the subheading because they were imported before the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 relaxed restrictions on commingling of U.S. goods returned, CBP said.
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of Sept. 22 (some may also be given separate headlines):
The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on titanium sponge from Japan and Kazakhstan (A-588-877, A-834-809), and countervailing duty investigation on titanium sponge from Kazakhstan (C-834-810).