The International Trade Commission is beginning a Section 337 investigation on bulk containers (ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-1434) after receiving allegations filed by Schütz Container Systems and Protechna S.A. that Chinese companies Shandong Jinshan Jieyuan Container, Zibo Jielin Plastic Pipe Manufacture, Shanghai Sakura Plastic Products (d/b/a Shanghai Yinghua Plastic Products) and Hebei Shijiheng Plastics are importing products that infringe its patents, the agency said in a Jan. 21 news release.
The Commerce Department published notices in the Federal Register Jan. 23 on the following AD/CV duty proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, scope, affected firms or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The Commerce Department soon will suspend liquidation and impose antidumping duty cash deposit requirements on imports of large top mount combination refrigerator-freezers from Thailand, it said in a fact sheet issued Jan. 23. Commerce set AD rates ranging from 13.28% to 37.9% for Thai exporters, it announced in its preliminary determinations in its ongoing AD investigation. Suspension of liquidation and cash deposit requirements will take effect for entries on or after the date of publication of the preliminary determinations in the Federal Register, which should occur in the coming days.
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board issued the following notices on Jan. 23:
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
A listing of recent Commerce Department antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted on CBP's website Jan. 22, 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 CBP's ADCVD Search page.
CBP created Harmonized System Update 2503 on Jan. 22, containing 70 Automated Broker Interface (ABI) records and 10 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records. HSU 2503 includes the updated HTS Watermelon Fee for the National Watermelon Promotion Board rate assessment.
In the Jan. 15 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 59, No. 3), CBP published proposals to modify or revoke ruling letters concerning the tariff classification of women's underwear.
The Trump administration could be laying the groundwork to take broad and sweeping action on trade policy around April 1 when an internal review on U.S. trade policy is due, according to trade lawyers from Barnes Richardson.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, who voted against USMCA because he felt it moved too much in the direction of managed trade, told an audience at a Council on Foreign Relations event Jan. 23 that, despite all of his talk of tariffs, "a lot of folks will be surprised at the extent to which President [Donald] Trump will pursue broad, aggressive tariffs."