On February 10, 2022, the Department of Commerce published a Federal Register notice requesting public comments on the Section 232 exclusions process. The notice follows the agreement reached between the U.S. and the EU related to the tariff rate quotas for steel and aluminum articles from EU member countries and the President’s January 3, 2022 announcement, Adjusting Imports of Steel into the United States (Proclamation 10328).
The U.S. Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) announced on Friday that it was set to resume trade missions starting as early as March 2022. Trade missions are government- led programs where members of the trade can meet directly with foreign industries and officials to explore potential business opportunities. The COVID-19 pandemic brought these missions to a sudden halt in March 2020 and no trade missions have occurred in the past 24 month. The International Trade Administration (“ITA”) is now preparing to resume in-person trade missions, where possible.
On February 7, 2022, the United States and Japan announced that both countries had agreed to a tariff-rate quote (TRQ) for steel imports from Japan. The agreement will eliminate the Section 232 25% tariff on imports of steel from Japan that fall within the quota, effective April 1, 2022. Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo and
On Saturday, the United States and the European Union reached an agreement on section 232 duties being imposed because of global steel and aluminum excess capacity concerns. The trading partners have agreed that the U.S. will adjust tariffs on steel and aluminum to allow elimination of certain U.S. section 232 duties, and the EU will suspend its retaliatory tariffs.
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”).
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
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 United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized a rule intending to reduce the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in the United States by enforcing a cap and phasedown program under the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act. According to the EPA, the final rule will phase down U.S. production and consumption of
On September 8, 2021, after a longstanding dispute, the US Court of International Trade issued an order resolving the steps that Plaintiffs will need to take in order to preserve their rights to receive refunds, in conformance with the injunction that was issued by the court on July 6, 2021. The Government recently conceded that, as a practical matter, it does not have the resources to suspend liquidation on an ongoing basis to comply with the Court’s PI order. As a result, in lieu of suspension, the Government stipulated that it will rely on post-judgment reliquidation or refunds to provide the remedy in the event Plaintiffs’ claims are successful – the very solution that Plaintiffs had been advocating for since the entry of the PI order. As a result, the Court issued the attached Order lifting the PI and TRO and removing the requirement for a CBP repository. Customs will continue liquidating entries in the ordinary course as they have done.