Two domestic manufacturers, Weldbend and Boltex Manufacturing, filed a petition on June 30 with the Commerce Department and International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duties on finished carbon steel flanges from India, Italy and Spain, and new countervailing duties on finished carbon steel flanges from India. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations on these products that could result in the imposition of duties.
Harmonized Tariff Schedule
The Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) is a reference manual that provides duty rates for almost every item that exists. It is a system of classifying and taxing all goods imported into the United States. The HTS is based on the international Harmonized System, which is a global standard for naming and describing trade products, and consists of a hierarchical structure that assigns a specific code and rate to each type of merchandise for duty, quota, and statistical purposes. The HTS was made effective on January 1, 1989, replacing the former Tariff Schedules of the United States. It is maintained by the U.S. International Trade Commission, but the Customs and Border Protection of the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for interpreting and enforcing the HTS.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on ammonium sulfate from China (A-570-049/C-570-050). The agency will determine whether imports of Chinese ammonium sulfate are being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value or are illegally subsidized. The period under investigation in the CV duty case is Jan. 1, 2015, through Dec. 31, 2015. In the AD duty investigation, it's Oct. 1, 2015 through March 31, 2016.
The International Trade Commission released its seventh annual compilation of biweekly data on textile and apparel imports from China for 2015, including data by category for the span 2008-2015 (here). The data in the report are shown on an annual and quarterly basis, by category and by Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) 10-digit numbers. It consists of a series of tables that provide Chinese textile and apparel import statistics, including: import value by category and HTS number; Chinese market share; quantity of imports from China; unit value of imports from China; and unit value of imports from the world.
The House Appropriations Committee pointed to CBP hiring issues among the reasons behind its recommendation for $112.7 million less than the White House requested in overall CBP operations and support personnel funding as part of its fiscal 2017 Department of Homeland Security spending bill, the committee's draft report on the legislation said (here). The committee pointed to CBP’s past hiring difficulties and lack of Congressional oversight on unbound CBP finances as reasons for the decreased level, which is part of a $395.6 million proposed reduction in CBP operations and support from the Obama administration’s request. The bill would fund CBP operations and support personnel at $443.9 million, or 4 percent of the $11.2 billion level the bill would give CBP in total. The bill's overall CBP funding amount comes in at $458.1 million below the White House’s requested level, but at $158 million more than total fiscal 2016 funding (see 1606080053).
The International Trade Commission plans to submit two new forms to the Office of Management and Budget related to Miscellaneous Tariff Bill petitions, the ITC said in a notice (here). "The information requested by these forms is for use by the Commission in connection with evaluating miscellaneous tariff petitions submitted" under the new MTB process (see 1605200041), the ITC said. "Each interested party will be required to establish a user web account on the Commission website to submit a petition requesting the creation or renewal of miscellaneous tariff provisions in the [Harmonized Tariff Schedule] comment on a previously submitted petition," it said. The ITC expects up to 5,000 petitions and 14,000 comments, it said. Public comments are due Aug. 16. "Copies of the forms, supporting documents, and previously submitted comments" will eventually be available on the ITC website (here).
CBP said it created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 1605 on June 6, containing 232 ABI records and 1,130 harmonized tariff records. Modifications include adjustments of partner government agency (PGA) indicators, CBP said (here). Adjustments required for the verification of the 2016 Harmonized Tariff Schedule are also included, CBP said in a CSMS message. The modified records can be retrieved electronically via the procedures indicated in the CATAIR. Further information: Jennifer Keeling, Jennifer.Keeling@dhs.gov
PCI Nitrogen filed a petition on May 25 with the Commerce Department and International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping and countervailing duties on ammonium sulfate from China. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations on ammonium suflate, which is used as a fertilizer as well as in industrial applications.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate from Austria (A-433-812), Belgium (A-423-812), Brazil (A-351-847), France (A-427-828), Germany (A-428-844), Italy (A-475-834), Japan (A-588-875), South Korea (A-580-887), China (A-570-047), South Africa (A-791-822), Taiwan (A-583-858) and Turkey (A-489-828), as well as countervailing duty investigations on cut-to-length plate from Brazil (C-351-848), China (A-570-048) and South Korea (C-570-888).