On June 30, 2021, Zeon Chemicals L.P. and Zeon GP, LLC (“Petitioners”), filed a petition for the imposition of antidumping duties on imports of non-latex, non-hydrogenated acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber from France, Mexico, and South Korea.

SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION

The product covered by this investigation is commonly referred to as acrylonitrile butadiene rubber or nitrile rubber

The U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) is indefinitely suspending the Section 301 tariffs on certain handbags and cosmetics from France resulting from the investigation into France’s Digital Services Tax (“DST”). These additional tariffs were announced by USTR in July 2020 and were scheduled to go into effect on January 6, 2021. USTR is suspending the tariffs

At a NATO meeting on Tuesday, December 3, 2019, President Trump declared that he was prepared to wait to negotiate a trade agreement with China until after the 2020 U.S. presidential election, dashing hopes that “phase one” of an interim agreement was to be reached soon.  The 15% Section 301 List 4b tariffs are likely

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.”

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.

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.

Washington, DC — Today, WPC Technologies (“WPC”)  filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission, asserting that imports of strontium chromate from Austria and France are being sold in the United States at “dumped prices.” These unfair trade actions are alleged to have caused material injury to the U.S. strontium chromate industry.