A piece of a new report from the World Trade Organization laid out trends in technical barriers to trade (TBT) for the last year, finding Tanzania and China as the two countries to give notice of the most new technical barriers. Primarily citing concerns for human health or safety, the world issued 1,372 new TBT notifications to the WTO over the last year. The report also highlighted specific trade concerns from WTO members, publishing all the registered trade issues on issues ranging from market access, import licensing regimes, antidumping practices, safeguards and subsidies. The 169-page report also pegged unequal vaccine access as a major barrier to the full recovery of international trade from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The following new requests for antidumping and countervailing duty scope rulings were recently filed with the Commerce Department:
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices Aug. 2 on AD/CV duty proceedings:
Plaintiffs in a case over the fifth administrative review of the countervailing duty order on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells from China were granted a consent motion for a statutory injunction, enjoining liquidation on their solar cell entries on July 30. Prior injunctions held up the liquidation of the entries, but they have come to pass, prompting the need for the new injunction. The companies whose entries are now suspended are Changzhou Trina Solar Energy Co., Trina Solar (Changzhou) Science & Technology Co., Changzhou Trina Solar Yabang Energy Co. and Yancheng Trina Solar Energy Technology Co (Canadian Solar Inc., et al. v. U.S., CIT Consol. #19-00187).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit dismissed an appeal from Novolipetsk Steel Public Joint Stock Company and Novex Trading (Swiss) SA on July 29 in a challenge of the 2016-17 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on hot-rolled flat rolled carbon-quality steel products. In November 2020, the Court of International Trade sustained the Commerce Department's final results in the case, holding that it was reasonable for the agency to find that the statute permitted it to disregard sales it found were not bona fide from the review. After Novolipetsk and Novex took their case to the Federal Circuit, the plaintiffs also moved to reconsider the case in the trade court. CIT then denied their motion to reconsider the case in an April decision. The Federal Circuit's dissmissal of the appeal came without opinion.
Turkish steel exporter Celik Halat ve Tel Sanayi's argument that an “extraordinary circumstance” existed, precluding the timely filing of a questionnaire response in antidumping and countervailing duty cases, is not backed by substantial evidence, the Justice Department said in two July 27 reply briefs. By Celik's counsel's own admission, an oversight in the time difference for the filing deadline resulted in the untimely submission, not counsel's emergency medical procedure, DOJ said (Celik Halat ve Tel Sanayi A.S. v. United States, CIT #21-00045, #21-00050).
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices July 30 on AD/CV duty proceedings:
The Commerce Department seeks comments by Aug. 30 on whether Russia should be considered a non-market economy country for antidumping duty purposes, it said in a notice issued as part of the AD duty investigation on urea ammonium nitrate solutions from Russia (A-821-831). The domestic producer that requested the investigation “has provided sufficient evidence” of potential NME status for Russia for Commerce to consider the issue as part of the proceeding, the agency said. Commerce has treated Russia as a market economy since 2002. NME companies subject to AD duty proceedings must prove independence from government control, or else be assigned to the country-wide entity with AD rates that can reach into the hundreds percent. Comments can be submitted by the general public, and should address issues such as the extent to which wage rates are influenced by free bargaining, the extend of government ownership and control, and government control over price and output decisions.
Rolls of label tape imported by D&F Consolidated are subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on narrow woven ribbons with woven selvedge from China (A-570-952/C-570-953), said the Commerce Department in a July 27 scope ruling. D&F claimed that only decorative ribbon is subject to the orders, but Commerce found that ribbon with a utilitarian purpose can be subject to AD/CV duties.
Quick frozen garlic imported by Trinity that undergoes a blanching process is not considered heat treated and is still subject to antidumping duties on fresh garlic from China (A-570-831), Commerce said in a July 21 scope ruling. But Trinity’s quick frozen diced garlic and garlic puree are not subject to the AD duty order, said the agency in another scope ruling issued the next day.