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). Continue Reading President Trump Announces Tariffs on $300 Billion of Chinese Products

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.”

Continue Reading July Trade Law Update: Court Decisions

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.
Continue Reading July Trade Law Update: U.S. International Trade Commission and U.S. Customs & Border Protection

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.

Continue Reading July Trade Law Update: U.S. Department of Commerce Decisions

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. Continue Reading July Trade Law Update: Presidential Actions

On July 10, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced that it had opened an investigation directed at the Government of France under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.  The announcement came as the French Senate considered a new digital services tax (“DST”)—enacted a day later—imposing a 3% revenue tax on companies providing certain online services directed at French customers that earn annual revenues of at least €25 million in France and at least €750 million worldwide. Continue Reading USTR Opens Section 301 Investigation into French Digital Services Tax, Announces Public Comment Period

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. Continue Reading Trump Administration and BIS Announce Willingness to Issue Huawei Export Licenses; Criteria for Issuing Such Licenses Still Unclear

Husch Blackwell is pleased to announce its sponsorship of the 2019 USA Go Global Awards. The USA Go Global Awards is an awards system which celebrates the business strategies, technologies and innovations of manufacturers, exporters and related service providers who are helping to drive the US economy forward. Husch Blackwell is one of the proud presenting sponsors of the awards which will be presented in Chicago, Illinois, during the 2019 Think Global Conference, October 23rd, 2019. Continue Reading Husch Blackwell is a Proud Presenting Sponsor of The International Trade Council’s USA Go Global Awards

On July 8, 2019, Petitioners Advanced Extrusion Inc. (“Advanced Extrusion”), Ex-Tech Plastics, Inc. (“Ex-Tech”), and Multi-Plastics Extrusions, Inc. (“Multi-Plastics”) filed a petition for the imposition of antidumping duties on imports of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Sheet from Korea, Mexico and Oman. Continue Reading Petition Summary: Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Sheet from Korea, Mexico, and Oman