International Trade & Supply Chain

U.S. Supply ChainOn September 3, 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce published a notice initiating new Administrative Reviews for antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders with mostly July anniversary dates, but some other dates as well. Listed below are the countries and products named in the notice:

  1. Belgium: Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts (A-423-813)

In Husch Blackwell’s August 2020 Trade Law Newsletter, you’ll learn about the following updates in international trade and supply chain law:

  • Commerce proposed modifications to AD/CVD laws to strengthen enforcement
  • EU lifted tariffs on U.S. lobsters; U.S. agreed to limited tariff rollback on certain products
  • USTR revised list of EU imports subject to Section

On September 1, 2020, 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.  In addition to administrative reviews, Commerce has included an opportunity to request a new suspension agreement proceeding pertaining to fresh tomatoes from Mexico.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) issued extensions for previously granted product exclusions under List 4 of the Section 301 tariffs on imports from China.  USTR is extending the duty exemptions for only 87 of the approximately 248 product exclusions published to date under List 4, allowing for more than 150 to expire on September 1, 2020. The products for which exclusions have not been extended will be subject to the 7.5% tariff beginning on September 2, 2020.

On August 21, 2020, the United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and European Union (EU) Commissioner Phil Hogan issued a joint statement, announcing that both parties would reduce tariffs on certain goods. Specifically, the EU has agreed to eliminate tariffs on imports of U.S. live and frozen lobster products. The elimination of these tariffs

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) issued two (2) new product exclusions pertaining to the Section 301 List 3 tariffs.  The current tariff is 25%.  The new exclusions include 2 specific product descriptions that together cover 2 separate exclusion requests.  According to the USTR, the product exclusions apply retroactively from September 24, 2018

On August 10, 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a notice announcing that goods produced in Hong Kong and exported to the U.S. must now be marked as a product of China (e.g., Made in China), which we covered in a previous post here.  The marking changes were originally set

The U.S. Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) announced in a Federal Register notice that it is proposing significant changes to its antidumping and countervailing duty regulations.  The last time such sweeping changes were undertaken were in 1997 after the WTO went into effect.  Commerce is requesting comments on the proposed changes by September 14, 2020.

Among the most significant changes outlined in Commerce’s proposal are the changes to its conduct of scope proceedings, which determine whether a certain product is subject to the scope of an AD or CVD order; and to circumvention proceedings where importers are alleged to be avoiding duties, often by using components from the subject country to assemble the product in another country not subject to the relevant AD/CVD order. Currently, both types of proceedings are governed by the same set of regulations in 19 C.F.R. §351.225.  Commerce’s proposal would separate the two proceedings into unique regulatory frameworks.