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Cortney Morgan

An experienced attorney in the area of international trade and supply chain issues, Cortney advises foreign and domestic clients on all aspects of international trade regulation, planning and compliance, including import (customs), export controls, economic sanctions, embargoes, international trade agreements and preference programs.

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Investigations

  • Glycine from Thailand: On August 5, 2019, Commerce released its final negative Countervailing Duty determination and final negative Critical Circumstances determination.
  • Glycine from Thailand: On August 5, 2019, Commerce released its final determination in the Antidumping Duty Investigation and final affirmative determination of Critical Circumstances in Part.
  • Aluminum Extrusions from the People’s Republic of China: On August 12, 2019, Commerce announced the final affirmative determination of Circumvention of the Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Orders.
  • Steel Propane Cylinders from the People’s Republic of China and Thailand: On August 15, 2019, Commerce released the amended final determinations in the Antidumping Duty Investigation.
  • Refillable Stainless Steel Kegs from Mexico: On August 19, 2019, Commerce released the final affirmative determination in the Antidumping Duty Investigation and final determination of Critical Circumstances.
  • Certain Polyester Staple Fiber from the Republic of Korea: On August 28, 2019, Commerce issued a notice of the final results of the Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review.

President Trump Announces Tariffs on $300 Billion of Chinese Products

On Thursday, August 1, 2019, President Trump announced via twitter an additional 10% tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese products (“List 4”). This is the fourth round of tariffs in the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China. The List 4 tariffs were proposed on May 13, 2019 (see our previous post here).

President Trump indicated that the tariffs will begin on September 1, 2019 at a 10% duty rate and come as a result of China not purchasing large quantities of U.S. agricultural products and its continued sales of fentanyl. To see the full post on President Trump’s tariffs, click here.

On August 23, 2019, President Trump announced via Twitter that the tariff rates on Lists 1, 2, and 3, worth approximately $250 billion worth of goods imported from China, will increase from 25% duty to 30% beginning October 1, 2019. Additionally, the President indicated that the tariff rate on the List 4 tariffs currently set to begin on September 1 will increase to 15% from 10%. It is unclear if the tariffs currently set to go into effect on December 15 will also be increased to 15%.

In May of 2019, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) added Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (“Huawei”) and sixty-eight of its affiliated companies to BIS’s Entity List.  These designations prohibit anyone, anywhere in the world from exporting, re-exporting or making an in-country transfer of “items subject to the EAR” to the listed Huawei Companies (“Items subject to the EAR” generally consist of US-origin commodities, software or technology, items produced outside the US which include qualifying US-origin content and items that are physically present in or transiting through the US).  Shortly after making these designations, BIS issued a Temporary General License which authorized limited ongoing transactions with Huawei to support existing networks and Huawei equipment and handsets.

Court of International Trade

Summary of Decisions

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On July 1, 2019, in the ongoing antidumping and countervailing duty orders on aluminum extrusions from the People’s Republic of China, the Court concluded that jurisdiction over this action exists because Plaintiff Perfectus’s complaint seeking review of the scope ruling was filed within thirty days of the mailing by post of that ruling as required by statute and was therefore timely and the Court sustains Commerce’s finding that the pallet products fall within the plain language of the scope of the Orders.

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On July 2, 2019, in the classification case of stringed light sets, the Court granted Plaintiff Target’s motion for summary judgment and denied the Defendant’s cross-motion. The CIT concluded that the subject merchandise based on the principal of use and commercial fungibility with other products was incorrectly classified by Customs. In the Opinion, the CIT stated, “there can be no genuine issue of material fact that the lighting sets at issue are not principally used as Christmas tree lights and are not fungible with Christmas tree lights.”

U.S. International Trade Commission

Section 701/731 Proceedings

Investigations
  • Quartz Surface Products from the People’s Republic of China: On July 5, 2019, the ITC released the final determinations in the Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Investigations.
  • Steel Trailer Wheels from the People’s Republic of China: On July 23, 2019, the ITC released the final revised schedule for the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations.
  • Polyester Textured Yarn from the People’s Republic of China: On July 29, 2019, the ITC released the final schedules for the Final Phase of the Countervailing Duty and Antidumping Duty Investigations.

Investigations

  • Certain Steel Wheels 12 to 16.5 Inches in Diameter from the People’s Republic of China: On July 9, 2019, Commerce released the final affirmative Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty determinations and final affirmative determinations of Critical Circumstances.
  • Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof: On July 16, 2019, Commerce released its final determination of Anti-Circumvention Inquiry.
  • Certain Steel Racks and Parts Thereof from the People’s: On July 24, 2019, Commerce released the final affirmative Countervailing Duty determination and Antidumping Duty determination.
  • Glycine from the People’s Republic of China: On July 25, 2019, Commerce released a notice of correction to the final affirmative Countervailing Duty determination and Countervailing Duty Order.

USTR Proposes New Tariffs on EU Products under Section 301

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced on July 1, 2019 a proposed list of tariffs on approximately $4 billion worth of products from the European Union (EU). This is a supplemental list to the April 12, 2019 proposed tariffs with an approximate trade value of $12 billion.

According to USTR, this action is designed to pressure the EU to implement the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body recommendations in regard to the United States’ WTO dispute against the EU’s subsidies on large civil aircraft.

Interested parties can appear at a public hearing or file comments on the proposed list.

As previously reported  in our International Trade Insights blog, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) added Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (“Huawei”) and sixty-eight of its affiliate companies to the BIS Entity List effective May 16, 2019. This designation prohibits anyone inside or outside of the United States from exporting, re-exporting or making an in-country transfer of commodities, software or technology that is subject to the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) to any of the listed Huawei companies without an appropriate license from BIS.  Commodities, software and technology are “subject to the EAR” when they are of U.S. origin (regardless of whether they are located inside or outside the U.S.), physically present in the U.S., moving in transit through the U.S. or produced outside of the U.S. with qualifying amounts of controlled U.S.-origin content.  The BIS designations for these Huawei companies require BIS to evaluate any license applications according to a general presumption of denial.  BIS has also issued a Temporary General License (covered here in the International Trade Insights blog) which authorizes limited transactions with Huawei Entity List companies under certain contracts that existed on or before May 16, 2019.  This Temporary General License is currently scheduled to expire on August 19, 2019.

Court of International Trade

Summary of Decisions

19-52

On May 1, 2019, the CIT sustained Commerce’s remand redetermination results following a countervailing duty investigation for certain hot-rolled steel flat products from the Republic of Korea. The court reviewed two issues on remand, Commerce’s selection of the highest calculated AFA rate and Commerce’s corroboration. Concerning the first issued on the selection of the AFA rate, the CIT found that Plaintiff POSCO did not exhaust its administrative remedies. The second issue presented was whether or not the selected 1.05% AFA rate was corroborated based upon substantial evidence and whether Commerce’s selection of a non-de-minimis AFA rate was appropriate because it was a rate calculated for a cooperating Korean company in another countervailing duty proceeding for a similar program.

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On May 2, 2019, in the case of garage door openers that were redesigned to avoid infringement on a registered patent, the CIT denied the ITC’s motion for a stay pending appeal based on the grounds that the ITC did not meet its burden for a stay. A stay of the preliminary injunction and all other proceedings in this matter was not warranted as: (1) the ITC has not demonstrated a “strong showing” of likelihood of success on the merits, (2) the ITC has not demonstrated that it will be irreparably injured absent a stay in this action, (3) the issuance of a stay would substantially injure another party, the Plaintiff, and (4) the public interest is neutral. For those reasons, the CIT denied the ITC’s motion for a stay.