The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on uncoated groundwood paper from Canada (A-122-861/C-122-862). The agency will determine whether imports of Canadian groundwood paper are being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value or are illegally subsidized. The CV duty investigation covers entries Jan. 1, 2016, through Dec. 31, 2016. The AD duty investigation covers entries July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2017.
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.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 21-25 in case they were missed.
Unprinted magnetic label holders imported by Tatco are subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on raw flexible magnets from China (A-570-922/C-570-923), the Commerce Department said in a scope ruling issued Aug. 23. The non-magnetic components of the magnet holders are not exempt from the AD/CV duty orders, it said. On the other hand, magnetic label holders printed with a zebra pattern are exempt from AD/CV duties, even though magnets with printed with “stripes” are covered, Commerce said.
Titanium Metals Corporation (TIMET) filed a petition on Aug. 24 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping and countervailing duties on titanium sponge from Kazakhstan, and new antidumping duties on titanium sponge from Japan. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations on titanium sponge that could eventually result in the assessment of AD/CV duties.
Multiple recommendations submitted by the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for Section 321 entries proved to be contentious, eliciting disagreement among members during the Aug. 23 COAC meeting in San Diego. The presentation of the recommendations at the meeting included the unusual step of votes and discussions on each individual recommendation. While some of the recommendations faced opposition, all were ultimately approved by the COAC. "There's a lot of uncertainty in this area because it's a new and different model that was not necessarily envisioned or anticipated by the market, by those that are participating in it or by our government partners," said Cindy Allen, the co-chair of the Trade Modernization Subcommittee.
The Court of International Trade on Aug. 23 ordered a Texas company and its owner to pay a penalty for negligent misstatements on import documentation, though at a level far below what the government requested. Neither Deladiep or its owner and sole corporate officer John Delatorre appeared in court to defend themselves, but CIT nonetheless cut the penalty by 80 percent to $17,548.12, finding the violation of 19 USC 1592 did not warrant the $87,740.60 maximum.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website Aug. 23, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at http://adcvd.cbp.dhs.gov/adcvdweb.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is drastically trailing its goal to have Afghanistan collect 75 percent of its customs duties through e-payment by the end of November 2017, as a report by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) found that the nation was collecting only 0.59 percent of duties electronically at the end of December 2016. Dated Aug. 17, the report states that USAID has told SIGAR that it will complete a “root cause analysis” of the shortcoming by Aug. 31. USAID, in consultation with Chemonics, its implementing partner in USAID’s Afghanistan Trade and Revenue program, established the goal to reach the 75 percent level by the end of a planned $77.8 million project lasting from November 2013 through November 2017, the report says. USAID officials have suggested that “eliminating or significantly stemming” corruption in Afghanistan’s customs process could double the country’s customs revenue.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 14-18 in case they were missed.
In the Aug. 16 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 51, No. 33), CBP published notices that propose to revoke or modify rulings and similar treatment for vacuum trucks designed for liquid waste removal.