2021

The Department of Commerce published its Final Determination in the antidumping (“AD”) and countervailing duty (“CVD”) investigation of Utility Scale Wind Towers from India on October 13, 2021, which investigation was initiated in November 2020. The AD/CVD petition was filed by Wind Tower Trade Coalition (“Petitioner”) and a complete summary of the original petition can be found here.  The mandatory respondent selected by Commerce in both the antidumping and countervailing duty investigation was Vestas Wind Technology India Private Limited (“Vestas”).

With the support of the Executive Directors of The Port of Los Angeles (“Port of L.A.”) and the Port of Long Beach, and the President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, President Biden announced on Wednesday October 13, 2021, after week of negotiations, that the Port of L.A. has agreed to begin operating 24/7. The Port of L.A. will join the Port of Long Beach, which has been running 24/7 for the past several weeks. Together, 40% of the containers imported to the United States go through these two ports.

On September 30, 2021, the Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) filed a motion requesting a voluntary remand to review 502 Section 232 exclusion request denials it issued to Voestalpine High Performance Metals Corporation and Ergo Specialty Steels, Incorporated (collectively “Voestalpine, et al.”) beginning in 2018.  Specifically, Commerce in its motion acknowledges that it lacks documentation explaining why it rejected all 502 requests.  This motion for voluntary remand comes only a couple months after Commerce requested the same type of voluntary remand in six separate Section 232 appeals.

On Sept. 20, the U.S. Department of Commerce published a new set of anti-dumping and countervailing duty regulations governing a multitude of administrative proceedings including:

• Changes to new shipper reviews;
• Scope ruling requests;
• Anti-circumvention inquiries;
• Covered merchandise referrals from U.S. Customs and Border Protection under the Enforce and Protect Act; and …

In Husch Blackwell’s September 2021 Trade Law Newsletter, you’ll learn about the following updates in international trade and supply chain law:

  • The Court of International Trade issued an order in the Section 301 litigation resolving the steps Plaintiffs will need to take to preserve their rights to receive refunds
  • The United States Environmental Protection

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On October 5, 2021, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) published a final rule in the Federal Register that places new controls on software and technology that can potentially be used for manufacturing biological weapons. The rule comes after a decision in May 2021 by the forty-three (43) participant countries…

On October 6, 2021, Borusan Mannesmann Pipe U.S., Inc. (“Borusan U.S.”), PTC Liberty Tubulars LLC (“PTC”), U. S. Steel Tubular Products, Inc. (“U. S. Steel”), the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC (the “USW”), and Welded Tube USA, Inc. (“Welded Tube”) ( “Petitioners”), filed a petition for the imposition of antidumping duties on imports of oil country tubular goods from Argentina, Mexico, and Russia. In addition, the petition alleges that imports of oil country tubular goods from the Republic of Korea and Russia are unfairly subsidized and requests the imposition of countervailing duties.

On October 4, 2021, Ambassador Katherine Tai, the United States Trade Representative, addressed the state of U.S.- China trade relations and the upcoming plans for the Biden Administration to improve foreign trade policy. Since taking office in January, the Administration has spent time reviewing the trade policies put in place under the Trump Administration.  There has been little movement until now as to the stance the Biden Administration would take, which created uncertainty regarding U.S. trade policy with China. Speculation grew as many questioned what would happen with the tariffs imposed on Chinese imports (under Section 301), how the administration would address the shortcomings of the “Phase 1” deal, and whether the product exclusion process would be re-instated.

The Department of Commerce’s (“Commerce”) Bureau of Industry & Security (“BIS”) recently issued requests for comment on risks to the information communications and technology (“ICT”) and semiconductor supply chains.  These comments are being requested as part of the U.S. government’s broader review of supply chain vulnerabilities (see here, here, and here).

ICT…