The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
USMCA
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement is a free trade agreement between the three countries, also known as CUSMA in Canada and T-MEC in Mexico. Replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 2020, the agreement contains a unique sunset provision where, after six years (in 2026), any of the three parties may decide not to continue the agreement in its current form and begin a period of up to 10 years where USMCA provisions may be renegotiated.
Lawyers from BakerHostetler that represent the Conseil de l’industrie forestière du Québec and the Ontario Forest Industries Association are using a Commerce Department comment process for softwood lumber subsidies to argue once again that the countervailing duty case against Canadian lumber exports contradicts the USMCA Environment Chapter commitments and Biden administration environment and social justice priorities.
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
Selective Cushioning Units (SCUs) are products of Mexico due to their complex assembly, not products of China subject to Section 301 duties, Strato argued in a Nov. 3 complaint to the Court of International Trade (Strato, Inc., v. U.S., CIT #22-00315).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, in a Federal Register notice published Oct. 26, asked for applications from people who would like to serve on panels that review final determinations in antidumping or countervailing duty proceedings and amendments to AD/CVD statutes of a USMCA Party. These people would be on the roster from April 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024. Applications are due by Nov. 30, and can be submitted at www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2022-0015.
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices Sept. 14 on AD/CVD proceedings:
Micah Myers, former senior associate general counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, joined Cozen O'Connor as a member of its Washington D.C. office, the firm announced. At USTR, Myers worked on various international trade negotiations, World Trade Organization disputes and proceedings as part of the USMCA labor enforcement team. Myers will advise clients on international trade issues including litigation, administrative proceedings and other matters, the firm said.
The EU is looking into whether the protectionist items in the recently passed U.S. Inflation Reduction Act violate World Trade Organization rules, EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told Bloomberg, the publication reported Sept. 10. The IRA -- a $437 billion tax, health and climate bill -- included provisions to boost North American production of electric cars, providing tax credits for electric vehicles made in North America. After a few years, the credits will only available to vehicles with advanced batteries that cut China out of their supply chains, and where the majority of the battery's value is from North America. Dombrovskis expressed concern over these measures along with the IRA's broader preference for U.S. manufacturing when it comes to government procurement.
CBP unlawfully changed exporter J.D. Irving's antidumping duty cash deposit rate on its 2020 entries months after the rate had been confirmed when no administrative review had been requested of the exporter, J.D. Irving argued in a Sept. 9 complaint at the Court of International Trade. Because the change came after assessment instructions had been issued for the 2020 review period, it improperly set a cash deposit that was not based on same dumping margin as its most recent assessment rate, the exporter said (J.D. Irving v. U.S., CIT #22-00256).