On March 31, 2021, the Organic Soybean Processors of America, American Natural Processors, LLC, Lester Feed & Grain Co., Organic Production Services, LLC, Professional Proteins Ltd., Sheppard Grain Enterprises, LLC, Simmons Grain Co., Super Soy, LLC, and Tri-State Crush (“Petitioners”), filed a petition for the imposition of antidumping and countervailing duties on imports of organic soybean meal from India.
On March 29th, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced the suspension of all U.S. engagements with Burma (Myanmar) under the 2013 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (“TIFA”), effective immediately. Pursuant to this announcement, the United States will be suspending all government-to-government meetings following the military coup that occurred in February and the related escalation in violence by Burma’s military against its people.
On April 1, 2021, the Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) announced in the Federal Register the opportunity to request an annual administrative review for products that are currently subject to antidumping and countervailing duties. The products and countries that have been listed in the Federal Register notice are the following:
AD
On April 1, 2021, the U.S. Department of Commerce published a notice initiating new administrative reviews for antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders with February anniversary dates. Listed below are the countries and products named in the notice:
U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) issued a forced labor finding on March 29, 2021 against Top Glove Corporation Bhd. (Top Glove), a Malaysian manufacturer of disposable gloves, a product which has been in high demand during the pandemic. As a result, port directors may seize certain disposable gloves of Top Glove’s at U.S. ports
The United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced the continuation of certain Section 301 investigations related to digital services taxes (“DSTs”) and the termination of certain others. USTR originally initiated Section 301 DSTs investigations covering several countries on June 2, 2020 in response to those countries’ implementation or consideration of DSTs, which are taxes on revenues
On March 30, 2021, MTD Products, Inc. (“Petitioner”), filed a petition for the imposition of antidumping and countervailing duties on imports of certain walk-behind snow throwers from the People’s Republic of China.
According to media reports, a massive 400-meter container ship operated by Evergreen Marine Corp. in Taiwan, the Ever Given, became stuck in the Suez Canal after apparently running aground due to high winds from a sandstorm. As a result, potentially hundreds of ships cannot pass on either side of the Suez Canal
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) published a notice of product exclusion extensions on March 10, 2021 to extend exclusions from additional Section 301 tariffs for certain medical-care products from China. USTR has extended these product exclusions from March 31, 2021 to September 30, 2021. The product exclusions were previously extended and modified
On March 18, 2021, Katherine Tai was confirmed as the U.S. Trade Representative. Tai will be the first woman of color in this role.
Tai’s nomination hearing focused on a worker and labor-centric trade policy as well as a return to multilateralism, which we believe will include more active participation in the World Trade Organization.