On July 9, 2024, the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) issued its annual update to its guidelines enforcing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”) in a Report to Congress titled “2024 Updates to the Strategy to Prevent the Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured with Forced Labor in the People’s Republic of
Trade Policy
Petition Summary: Vanillin from the People’s Republic of China
On June 5, 2024, Solvay USA LLC (“Petitioner”), filed a petition for the imposition of antidumping and countervailing duties on U.S. imports of Vanillin from the People’s Republic of China.
SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION
The following language describes the imported merchandise from China that is within the scope of this Petition:
The merchandise covered by…
U.S. Trade Representative Releases Section 301 Review, Announces Increases in Section 301 Duties for Select Products, and Indicates that Existing Exclusions are Scheduled to Expire on May 31
As previewed over the course of the last month, the Biden Administration has announced that intends to increase Section 301 tariff rates for a host of products, including critical minerals used in battery production, and solar cells and modules. Today’s announcement comes in the context of the U.S. Trade Representative completing its four-year review of…
Commerce Issues New Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Regulations
On March 22, 2024, the Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) released its anticipated new final countervailing duty regulations authorizing the agency to investigate subsidies provided by third country governments to manufacturers in the country under investigation. From 1997 to the present, Commerce limited its examination of subsidies to those programs and benefits provided by the investigated…
The Court of International Trade Rules That Chinese Companies Are Unlikely To Succeed In Case Challenging Their Placement On The UFLPA Entity List
In a February 27, 2024 opinion issued by Judge Gary S. Katzmann, the Court of International Trade held that Ninestar Corporation and its corporate affiliates (“Ninestar”), Chinese manufacturers and sellers of laser printers and printer-related products, were unlikely to succeed on the merits of a case challenging their placement on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention…
CBP Further Defines Customs Business in New Ruling
A recent ruling analyzed whether certain functions performed in preparation for filing an entry with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) arise to the level of “Customs Business” that must be performed by a licensed broker. Ruling HQ H326926, issued to Heizwerthy Customs & Freight Solutions (“Heizwerthy”), states that allowing an unlicensed company to extract…
Section 301 Exclusion Update
On December 26, 2023, the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced that it will further extend 352 reinstated exclusions and 77 COVID-related exclusions to duties imposed on goods from China pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 until May 31, 2024. USTR imposed Section 301 duties in four tranches or “lists,” and…
Customs Modernization Bill Addresses Trade Reform
On December 8, 2023, Senators Bill Cassidy and Sheldon Whitehouse introduced a new version of the Customs Modernization bill to amend the Tariff Act of 1930. The new proposal comes over two years after Senator Cassidy initially proposed draft legislation, which we explained in a prior post. The most recent proposed bill aims to…
USTR EXTENDS REINSTATED SECTION 301 EXCLUSIONS AND COVID-RELATED SECTION 301 EXCLUSIONS
On September 6, 2023, the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced that it will extend 352 reinstated exclusions and 77 COVID-related exclusions to duties imposed on goods from China pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The USTR imposed Section 301 duties in four tranches or “lists,” and it established a process…
Commerce Issues Final Determination on Circumvention of Solar Cells and Modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam
On August 18, 2023, the Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) announced its final determination that certain solar cells and modules exported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam are circumventing the antidumping (“AD”) and countervailing (“CVD”) orders on imports from China after conducting its investigation for over 18 months. Any duties will only go into effect in…