C-AIR TIMES ISSUE #602 - Friday, November 01, 2019 08:01

USTR to Consider Extending Certain Tariff Exclusions on $34 Billion of Chinese Imports - US Trade Representative

Washington, DC – The United States Trade Representative (USTR) will commence on November 1, 2019 a process for considering extending for up to twelve months certain exclusions from additional tariffs on Chinese imports that were granted last December and are set to expire on December 28, 2019.

In a Federal Register notice to be published this week, USTR will provide details on the process for submitting comments favoring or opposing specified tariff exclusions. The period for submitting comments will run from November 1, 2019 to November 30, 2019.
To view the Federal Register notice, click here.

U.S. Department of Commerce Announces Affirmative Preliminary Circumvention Ruling on Exports of Diamond Sawblades from China - U.S. Department of Commerce

Today (10/25/19), the U.S. Department of Commerce announced an affirmative preliminary circumvention ruling involving diamond sawblades and parts thereof, finding that diamond sawblades produced in Canada, using cores and segments of Chinese origin, are circumventing the existing antidumping duty order.

This circumvention inquiry only covers one Canadian company, Protech Diamond Tools Inc. Accordingly, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to suspend liquidation and to require a cash deposit of estimated duties on unliquidated entries of diamond sawblades produced, by Protech in Canada, using Chinese cores and Chinese segments. The applicable cash deposit rate will be equal to the rate previously established for the China-wide entity – 82.05 percent.

Commerce expects to issue its final ruling by February 24, 2020.

U.S. law provides that Commerce may find circumvention of antidumping or countervailing duty orders when merchandise subject to an existing order is completed or assembled in a third country from parts and components imported from the country subject to the order.

The strict enforcement of U.S. trade law is a primary focus of the Trump Administration. Since the beginning of the current Administration, Commerce has issued 30 preliminary or final affirmative determinations in anti-circumvention inquiries – a 233 percent increase from the number of such determinations made during the comparable period in the previous administration.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Enforcement and Compliance unit within the International Trade Administration is responsible for vigorously enforcing U.S. trade law and does so through an impartial, transparent process that abides by international rules and is based on factual evidence provided on the record.

Federal Register Notices:

Today (10/25/19), the U.S. Department of Commerce announced an affirmative preliminary determination in the antidumping duty (AD) investigation of imports of sodium sulfate anhydrous from Canada, finding that exporters from this country have dumped sodium sulfate anhydrous in the United States at a rate of 9.85 percent.

As a result of today’s decision, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers of sodium sulfate anhydrous from Canada based on that preliminary rate.

In 2018, imports of sodium sulfate anhydrous from Canada were valued at an estimated $5.7 million.

The petitioner is Cooper Natural Resources, Inc. (Fort Worth, TX), Elementis Global LLC (East Windsor, NJ), and Searles Valley Minerals, Inc. (Overland Park, KS).

The strict enforcement of U.S. trade law is a primary focus of the Trump Administration. Since the beginning of the current Administration, Commerce has initiated 184 new antidumping and countervailing duty investigations – a 235 percent increase from the comparable period in the previous administration.

Antidumping and countervailing duty laws provide American businesses and workers with an internationally accepted mechanism to seek relief from the harmful effects of the unfair pricing of imports into the United States. Commerce currently maintains 498 antidumping and countervailing duty orders which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.

Commerce is scheduled to announce the final determination on or about March 10, 2020.

If Commerce’s final determination is affirmative, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) will be scheduled to make its final injury determination on or about April 23, 2020. If Commerce makes an affirmative final determination of dumping, and the ITC makes an affirmative final injury determination, Commerce will issue an AD order. If Commerce makes a negative final determination of dumping, or the ITC makes a negative final determination of injury, the investigation will be terminated and no order will be issued.

Click HERE for a fact sheet on today’s decision.

Foreign companies that price their products in the U.S. market below the cost of production or below prices in their home markets are subject to antidumping duties. Companies that receive unfair subsidies from their governments, such as grants, loans, equity infusions, tax breaks, or production inputs, are subject to countervailing duties aimed at directly countering those subsidies.

Dulles CBP Protects U.S. against Potential Agriculture Threats in Passenger Baggage - U.S. Customs & Border Protection

Visitors should read CBP’s Travel website before departing to the United States

STERLING, Va. – Protecting our nation’s crop, grain and livestock industries is a daunting task and four recent U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seizures at Washington Dulles International Airport illustrate the potential threats CBP agriculture specialists face every day.

CBP agriculture specialists discovered Khapra beetle cast skins in a sack of cowpeas in traveler baggage from Sudan October 14. The traveler also possessed federal noxious weed seeds. Khapra beetle is a destroyer of stored grains, cereals and seeds, and it presents a potentially damaging economic impact to United States grain and cereal exports if Khapra beetle was to establish in the U.S. It remains the only insect in which CBP takes regulatory action, even when the insect is in a dead state.The cowpeas were incinerated.

CBP agriculture specialists also seized three stools from Ethiopia October 15 that were constructed of raw wood and unprocessed goat hide, which could carry destructive invasive wood borers and plant and animal diseases. The stools were incinerated.

Agriculture specialists also incinerated a collection of propagative seeds without a phytosanitary certificate seized from traveler baggage from South Africa October 7, and destroyed about 54 pounds of mangoes, lemons, dates, garlic and pumpkin seeds seized from traveler baggage from Egypt October 2. The fruit posed a threat of introducing plant disease and could serve as a vector for invasive insect hitchhikers. CBP agriculture detector dog Phillip discovered the fruit.

“Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists encounter all kinds of things in traveler baggage every day and these prohibited agriculture products pose a serious concern for our nation’s agriculture economy,” said Casey Durst, Director of Field Operations for CBP’s Baltimore Field Office. “CBP remains steadfast in conducting vigilant agriculture protection inspections at our ports of entry to ensure our nation’s agriculture security and economic prosperity.”

Travelers can view a brief listing of Prohibited and Restricted Items to know what they can and cannot bring to the United States, and foreign visitors can read more about navigating through CBP’s international arrivals inspection. Read more CBP Travel advice at https://www.cbp.gov/travel.

During a typical day last year, CBP agriculture specialists across the nation seized 4,552 prohibited plant, meat, animal byproduct, and soil, and intercepted 319 insect pests at U.S. ports of entry.

Columbus Man Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Exporting Goods to Iran - U.S. Department of Justice

Defendant Used Dublin Shell Company to Export Oil Industry Parts

A Central Ohio man was sentenced in U.S. District Court today for exporting gas and oil pipeline parts to Iran for more than a decade in deliberate violation of a U.S. embargo and trade sanctions.

Behrooz Behroozian, 64, of Columbus, was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

“For years, this defendant deliberately sought to defeat and evade the Iranian sanctions for personal gain while supplying critical equipment to the Iranian industrial complex. As this case demonstrates, the desire for specialized American technology and the willingness to illegally supply it to hostile countries are very real and ever present,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. “The Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners remain committed to identifying, disrupting, and prosecuting this kind of criminal conduct.”

“Behroozian profited financially by strengthening the economy of one of the world’s most infamous state sponsors of terrorism,” said Benjamin C. Glassman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. “The parts obtained by Behroozian benefited the Iranian gas and petrochemical industry. Not only did Behroozian’s crimes diminish the effectiveness of American trade sanctions but they also undermined America’s national security.”

“Behoorz Behroozian willfully violated export control laws by sending dual-use items to Iran, furthering their military and economic capabilities,” stated FBI Cincinnati Acting Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Deters.

“The sentencing today is an example of the FBI's commitment to partnering with other U.S. government agencies to vigorously enforce laws designed to keep sensitive items out of the hands of nations and individuals hostile to the U.S. The FBI will continue these efforts to protect our national security and stop the illegal export of protected information and technology.”

“For over a decade, Behrooz Behroozian repeatedly violated export control laws and aided Iranian entities in procuring controlled components that have both commercial and military uses in deliberate violation of a U.S. embargo and trade sanctions. With this sentence, he will be held accountable for circumventing critical U.S. laws designed to protect our national security interests,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Douglas R. Hassebrock.

Behroozian was born in Iran in 1955 and entered the United States in 1976. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1987.

According to the sentencing memorandum filed in this case, Behroozian used an intermediary company, Sumar Industrial Equipment, to attempt to cover-up that he was illegally supplying industrial equipment to Iran in violation of the Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

Behroozian exported manifolds, valves and connectors used for industrial pipelines in the gas and oil refinement industry to Iran via Sumar and profited $35,000 to $40,000 per year. This violated embargo and trade sanctions imposed upon Iran by the United States in May 1995.

In November 2006, Behroozian became the owner and operator of a computer parts supplier in Dublin, Ohio, called Comtech International. Comtech had no storefront and made no domestic sales. It seldom exported computer parts. Instead, Comtech primarily exported industrial equipment to Sumar in the United Arab Emirates for further exportation to Iran.

Assistant Attorney General Demers and U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the cooperative investigation by the FBI and U.S. Department of Commerce, as well as Assistant United States Attorneys Douglas W. Squires, Timothy J. Prichard and S. Courter Shimeall and Department of Justice National Security Division Trial Attorney Will Mackie, who are representing the United States in this case.