The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on prestressed concrete steel wire strand (PC strand) from Argentina (A-357-822), Colombia (A-301-804), Egypt (A-729-804), Indonesia (A-560-837), Italy (A-475-843), Malaysia (A-557-819), the Netherlands (A-421-814), Saudi Arabia (A-517-806), South Africa (A-791-826), Spain (A-469-821), Taiwan (A-583-868), Tunisia (A-723-001), Turkey (A-489-842), Ukraine (A-823-817), and the United Arab Emirates (A-520-809), and its recently initiated countervailing duty investigation on Turkey (C-489-843).
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.
Used clothing need not have fabric that is stressed or deteriorated from continued use to be classified as worn clothing in the tariff schedule, the Court of International Trade said in a May 6 decision that runs counter to more than two decades of CBP rulings and guidance on the subject.
Importers who have goods arriving this month or next cannot benefit from the 90-day tariff deferral the administration offered, even if they had the same sort of sharp drop in revenue that made them eligible before. Republican senators, who are back in Washington to discuss another round of relief legislation, expressed some interest in extending that program through statute, during hallway interviews with International Trade Today before entering the weekly caucus lunch. The Trump administration allowed for deferred regular customs duty payments on entries for March and April (see 2004300048).
At the southern border, not every document can be processed electronically yet, but they're working on it, the CBP Laredo Field Office told traders on a conference call May 1. Documents including meat certificates, phytosanitary certificates, bovine paperwork, and CITES certificates are still needed in paper form. Assistant Director of Field Operations Armando Taboada asked those listening to make sure the drivers and runners coming to the Texas port wear masks. “I know Gov. [Greg] Abbott relaxed a little bit of the requirements,” he said, but added, “It’s for our own health and safety, for all of us.” He said most drivers are wearing masks, but there are a few stragglers.
In a detailed five-page letter, the fashion industry is asking for broader application of government subsidies to businesses, flexibility in trade regulations, tax breaks, and billions of dollars in funding for day care facilities.
CBP is not currently planning to extend the 90-day customs duty deferral option beyond April, a CBP official said during an April 30 conference call. CBP lacks the authority to grant additional days for payment of duties, taxes and fees and the agency hasn't received instructions from the White House to indicate an extension of the program, she said. President Donald Trump authorized the Treasury Department to defer collections of customs duties during the COVID-19 national emergency (see 2004200024)
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 20-24 in case they were missed.
Although the auto industry appears to have lost the fight to delay a switchover from NAFTA to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, an executive at the organization that represents parts suppliers said they now hope that with give-and-take on the implementing rules and perhaps some flexibility, the industry will be able to make a July 1 entry into force date work.
The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on mattresses from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam (A-555-001, A-560-836, A-557-818, A-801-002, A-549-841, A-489-841, A-552-827), and countervailing duty investigation on mattresses from China (C-570-128).
Three U.S. manufacturers seek the imposition of new antidumping duties on prestressed concrete steel wire strand from Argentina, Egypt, Colombia, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Ukraine, and new countervailing duties on PC strand from Turkey, they said in a petition filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission April 15. 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.