CBP ignored the metadata of certain photographs and videos in an evasion investigation in order to claim they were unreliable, a wooden cabinet importer argued July 8 at the Court of International Trade (Skyview Cabinet USA v. U.S., CIT # 22-00080).
Tariff carve-outs for Mexican steel and aluminum in the Section 232 action will be curtailed, so that only steel that is melted and poured in North America can qualify, and so that aluminum that was smelted or cast in China, Russia, Belarus but worked again in Mexico will be taxed at higher rates.
The Commerce Department published notices in the Federal Register July 9 on the following AD/CV duty proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, scope, affected firms or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
A bipartisan bill that would direct the Department of Energy to identify the emissions intensity of about 20 sectors, including steel, aluminum, cement, plastics, oil, natural gas and hydrogen, was introduced in the House of Representatives July 9.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of July 1-7:
The Court of International Trade sustained CBP's finding that Dominican exporter Kingtom Aluminio didn't evade antidumping and countervailing duty orders on aluminum extrusions from China. In a June 13 decision made public July 8, Judge Richard Eaton said Kingtom responded to all U.S. requests for information during an Enforce and Protect Act investigation, precluding the use of adverse facts available. He also said the court can't ignore "the total lack of any record evidence of any imports by Kingtom into the Dominican Republic" of aluminum extrusions made in China.
A listing of recent Commerce Department antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted on CBP's website as of July 5-8, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at CBP's ADCVD Search page.
The president of a quartz surface products (QSP) distributor named in CBP’s investigation into whether four U.S. importers evaded antidumping and countervailing duties defended his company from any alleged wrongdoing.
The administration has added seafood, PVC, which is used in vinyl flooring, and aluminum to its priority enforcement sectors under the Ugyhur Forced Labor Prevention Act, it announced in its strategy update this week. This is the first time priority sectors have been added since the law went into effect two years ago; the original priority sectors of apparel, cotton products, polysilicon and solar panels made from polysilicon, and tomatoes remain.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the July 8 Federal Register on the following AD/CVD injury, Section 337 patent or other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will be in another ITT article):