The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on urea ammonium nitrate from Russia (A-821-831/C-821-832) and Trinidad and Tobago (A-274-808/C-274-809). The agency will determine whether imports of urea ammonium nitrate are being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value or are illegally subsidized.
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.
A panel of CBP officials told members of the trade community that they're still considering how to shape a rulemaking based on what they've learned from the Entry Type 86 test and the Section 321 data pilot, but they expect to require 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule codes on de minimis entries that PGAs have an interest in.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a Court of International Trade ruling dismissing an importer's challenge of CBP's assessment of antidumping and countervailing duties, for improper jurisdiction, in a July 14 opinion. The Federal Circuit found that TR International Trading Company, which filed its case under the trade court's Section 1581(i) "residual" jurisdiction provision, could have instead challenged a denied protest under 1581(a) or a scope ruling under 1581(c), rendering Section 1581(i) unavailable.
A selling agent working as intermediary between European wineries and U.S. wine wholesalers has enough of a financial interest to be the importer of record, CBP said in a June 30 ruling. Quality Brand Imports requested a ruling from CBP on whether it is able to serve as the IOR even though it never acts as a buyer or takes ownership of the goods, acting only as a facilitator.in the import and sales process.
The Commerce Department released a redacted version July 6 of its Section 232 report on the national security implications of U.S. imports of autos and auto parts. The Bureau of Industry and Security posted the report and its appendices, dated Feb. 17, 2019. Then-Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross suggested two scenarios for tariffs that the Trump administration could impose if USMCA negotiations weren't productive. No tariffs were imposed as a result of the report, but the possibility of tariffs remained a threat for years after.
A domestic manufacturer seeks the imposition of new antidumping and countervailing duties on urea ammonium nitrate solutions from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago, they said in petitions filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission June 30. 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 petition was filed by CF Industries Nitrogen and its subsidiaries Terra Nitrogen and Terra International (Oklahoma).
A domestic manufacturer filed petitions June 30 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duties on acrylonitrile butatiene rubber from France, Mexico and South Korea. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD duty investigations on non-latex, non-hydrogenated nitrile rubber from these three countries. Zeon Chemicals and Zeon GP filed the petition.
CBP published the quarterly Internal Revenue Service interest rates used to calculate interest on overdue accounts (underpayments) and refunds (overpayments) of customs duties. For the quarter that begins July 1, the interest rates for overpayments remains 2% for corporations and 3% for non-corporations, and the interest rate for underpayments will be 3% for both corporations and non-corporations. These interest rates are subject to change for the next quarter, CBP said.
CBP no longer plans to move forward with an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) on risk-based bonding that had been under discussion by the agency, but it still plans to implement risk-based bonding “by leveraging existing authorities and completing several initiatives,” it said in a document released ahead of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) meeting scheduled for June 23.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated June 16. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP: