In separate final determinations under the Enforce and Protect Act, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has determined that there is substantial evidence that two U.S. importers evaded the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on wooden cabinets and vanities and components thereof from China by (1) misrepresenting the country of origin as Vietnam or (2) transshipping subject goods through Malaysia and declaring that a Malaysian company was the supplier.
With respect to the Vietnam scheme, CBP states that the importer’s Vietnamese supplier imported substantial volumes of wooden furniture components from China and incorporated them into ready-to-assemble kits the supplier shipped to the importer. However, CBP adds, even if those Chinese components were further processed by the Vietnamese supplier prior to their inclusion in the RTA kits they remain subject to the AD/CV duty orders on imports from China.
As a result of its determinations, CBP will (1) suspend or continue to suspend liquidation of all subject entries, (2) rate adjust entries previously extended, change those entries to type 03, and continue suspension, and (3) evaluate the importer’s continuous bonds and require single transaction bonds as appropriate.
Under CBP regulations implementing the EAPA any interested party, including competing importers and federal government agencies, may submit allegations that AD/CV duties are being evaded; e.g., by misrepresenting the goods’ true country of origin, submitting false or incorrect shipping and entry documentation, or misreporting the goods’ physical characteristics. CBP has broad authority to investigate these claims and can impose initial remedial measures that can interrupt a supply chain in as little as 90 days. Any final determination of evasion may be met with not only AD/CV duties but also other enforcement measures such as civil or criminal investigations.
For more information on AD/CV duty evasion, please contact attorney Kristen Smith at (202) 730-4965 or via email.
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