The U.S. saw mixed results for trade enforcement and trade preference program activities in 2022, according to the International Trade Commission’s annual review of trade-related activities. The Year in Trade 2022 includes information on (1) antidumping, countervailing, safeguard, intellectual property rights infringement, national security, and section 301 cases, (2) the operation of trade preference programs, (3) significant activities at the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and within the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, and other trade initiatives, (4) implementation and enforcement matters under free trade agreements, (5) bilateral trade issues with major trading partners such as the European Union, Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, and India, (5) U.S. trade in goods and services, and (6) trade trends for Ukraine and Russia.
Section 301. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative instituted no new Section 301 investigations, maintained Section 301 tariffs on imports from China while conducting a statutory review of those tariffs, and monitored agreements terminating or suspending Section 301 actions in response to digital services taxes in various countries, large civil aircraft subsidies by the European Union, and currency and timber practices in Vietnam.
AD/CV. The ITC instituted 15 new antidumping injury investigations (down from 30 in 2021) and made 19 preliminary determinations (down from 21) and 21 final determinations (down from 83). The Department of Commerce issued 15 AD duty orders on nine products from eight countries (down from 82, 24, and 37).
The ITC instituted seven new countervailing injury investigations (down from 15) and made 11 preliminary determinations (unchanged) and 15 final determinations (down from 30). The DOC issued eight CV duty orders on six products from four countries (down from 30, 21, and 14).
The ITC instituted 100 sunset reviews of existing AD and CV duty orders and suspension agreements (down from 114) and completed 108 (up from 56), resulting in the continuation of 103 AD and CV duty orders for five additional years.
IPR Infringement. There were 140 active section 337 investigations and ancillary proceedings (up from 127), 80 of which were instituted in 2022 (up from 73) The ITC completed 83 investigations and ancillary proceedings (up from 67) and issued eight general exclusion orders (up from five), 14 limited exclusion orders (up from 8), and 61 cease and desist orders (up from 24). Computer and telecommunications equipment accounted for about 35 percent of the active proceedings, followed by consumer electronics at 15 percent and pharmaceuticals and medical devices at nine percent. Other types of articles at issue included lighting products, chemicals, knitted footwear, golf club connectors, and hazelnuts.
National Security. The DOC instituted no new Section 232 national security investigations and concluded one regarding neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnets, which did not result in any new trade restrictions. Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum remained in place, subject to numerous exclusions and modifications, tariff-rate quotas on imports from Japan and the United Kingdom, and temporary exemptions for imports originating in Ukraine.
GSP. The Generalized System of Preferences was not in effect for all of 2022 but imports claiming duty-free treatment under GSP increased about 15 percent to $21.5 billion. Several bills to reauthorize GSP were introduced in Congress but none were enacted into law.
AGOA. There were 36 sub-Saharan African countries eligible for AGOA benefits (down from 39), 24 of which (down from 27) were also eligible for AGOA textile and apparel benefits for all or part of 2022. Burkina Faso was terminated from AGOA eligibility as of Jan. 1, 2023.
Imports entering duty-free from beneficiary countries under AGOA (including GSP) were valued at $10.3 billion, a 52.5 percent increase from 2021. In total, AGOA and GSP accounted for 34.4 percent of total imports from AGOA beneficiary countries (up from 24.5 percent).
Caribbean. Seventeen countries and dependent territories were eligible for preferences under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, eight of which were eligible for expanded preferences under the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act. The total value of U.S. imports under CBERA (including CBTPA) increased 21.9 percent to $2.7 billion. Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Haiti were the leading suppliers of U.S. imports under CBERA; methanol, crude petroleum, and cotton T-shirts were the top imported products; and imports entered under CBERA accounted for 21.6 percent of all imports from beneficiary countries (down from 25.0 percent).
Trade with FTA Partners. The value of goods imports entered under FTA provisions increased 16 percent to $491 billion, accounting for 15.2 percent of U.S. imports from the world (up from 14.8 percent). FTA imports increased from all partners except Chile. Imports entered under the USMCA grew by 14.9 percent (down from 17.1 percent) while imports under all 13 other FTAs combined increased by 20.0 percent (down from 24.5 percent)
Other developments with FTA partners in 2022 included Israel opening its market to imports of U.S. processed meat products and the resolution of issues with Colombia regarding express shipments.
WTO Dispute Settlement. WTO members filed eight new requests for dispute settlement consultations (down from nine). Only one dispute was filed against the U.S., by China, and the U.S. filed no new disputes.
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