Antidumping duty cash deposit rates will rise across the board for importers of hardwood and decorative plywood from China (A-570-986), after the Commerce Department issued its final affirmative antidumping duty determination. The final determination is effective Sept. 23.

The Commerce Department published notices in the Sept. 19 Federal Register 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):

The Commerce Department is refusing to revisit its decision to impose countervailing duties on frozen warmwater shrimp from Vietnam, despite appeals from the Ecuadorian government that the finding of illegal subsidization is the result of a misunderstanding. According to letters recently released by the Commerce Department, Ecuadorian Minister of International Trade Francisco Rivadeneira wrote Commerce in mid-August, explaining that the country’s apparent admission of an export restraint during the investigation was in fact the result of a misunderstanding between Ecuador and its law firm. But Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker responded Sept. 12 that the investigation was a “quasi-judicial” proceeding that the agency can’t just go back and change, and urged Ecuador to avail itself of upcoming administrative reviews if it wants to further pursue the matter.

Two domestic steel companies and a labor union filed requests on Sept. 18 for new antidumping duties on grain oriented electrical steel (GOES) from China, the Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Poland, and Russia. AK Steel Corporation, Allegheny Ludlum, and the United Steelworkers also requested the Commerce Department and International Trade Commission impose countervailing duties on GOES from China. According to the petitioners, underselling by exporters in the seven countries are causing U.S. companies a loss of domestic market share and falling sales and profits.

The Commerce Department is changing its regulations governing extensions of time limits for submissions in antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings, in a final rule set for publication in the Sept. 20 Federal Register. The agency will only allow late submissions under “extraordinary circumstances,” and is expanding the rules so that time limit extension provisions apply to all submissions, not just factual information. The time limit extension rules will apply differently when submissions from multiple parties are due at the same time. The changes will apply to AD/CV duty proceedings that begin on or after Oct. 21.

The International Trade Commission published notices in the Sept. 18 Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent, and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will appear in another ITT article):

The Commerce Department published notices in the Sept. 18 Federal Register 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):

Commerce Department decisions on whether to impose antidumping duty cash deposits on steel rail tie wire from China, Mexico and Thailand won’t come down until Nov. 19, after the agency extended the deadline for its preliminary determination. The preliminary decision was originally due on Sept. 30, but domestic industry requested more time to make its case. The Commerce Department began its investigation on May 13, based on petitions filed in April by Davis Wire Corporation and Insteel Wire Products. The two U.S. companies alleged underselling at rates of 53.72 to 159.44 percent.

The Commerce Department announced on Sept. 17 its final antidumping and countervailing duty rates on hardwood and decorative plywood from China (A-570-986/C-570-987). The agency found AD rates of 55.76% to 121.65%, and CV rates of zero to 27.16% for Chinese exporters. While the new AD cash deposit rates will come into effect upon publication of the final determination in the Federal Register, the new CV rates won’t be implemented unless the International Trade Commission finds harm to domestic industry in its final injury determination, currently set for Oct. 31. ITT will provide more details on Commerce’s final determinations once they’re published in the Federal Register.

The U.S. affiliate of a Japanese company requested on Sept. 16 new antidumping and countervailing duties on monosodium glutamate (MSG) from China and Indonesia. Ajinomoto North America (AJINA), whose parent company in Japan was the first company in the world to market MSG in 1909, alleges that low-priced and unfair competition in China and Indonesia is rapidly gaining U.S. market share and causing lost revenues and profits. MSG is a food additive that is mainly used to enhance flavors (the Japanese name Ajinomoto translates to “essence of taste” in English). Some MSG is also used as a biodegradable “builder” ingredient in detergents like laundry and dish soap, the petition said. Ajinomoto has a factory in Iowa and is the only domestic producer of the product, it said.