The U.S. saw mixed results for trade enforcement activities in 2023, according to the International Trade Commission’s annual review of trade-related activities. The Year in Trade 2023 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 the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, (4) implementation and enforcement matters under free trade agreements, and (5) bilateral trade issues with major trading partners such as the European Union, Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, and Kenya.
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 developments in Section 301 investigations involving digital services taxes in various countries, large civil aircraft subsidies by the European Union, and currency and timber practices in Vietnam.
Safeguards. No new safeguard petitions were filed and no new investigations were instituted. A global safeguard measures on solar cells and modules remained in place and a measure imposed on large residential washers expired in February.
AD/CV. The ITC instituted 65 new antidumping injury investigations (up from 15 in 2022) and made 64 preliminary determinations (up from 19) and 20 final determinations (down from 20). The Department of Commerce issued 14 AD duty orders on 7 products from 11 countries (down from 15, 9, and 8).
The ITC instituted 19 new countervailing injury investigations (up from 7) and made 19 preliminary determinations (up from 11) and 5 final determinations (down from 15). The DOC issued 5 CV duty orders on 5 products from 3 countries (down from 8, 6, and 4).
The ITC instituted 82 sunset reviews of existing AD and CV duty orders and suspension agreements (down from 100) and completed 116 (up from 108), resulting in the continuation of 115 AD and CV duty orders for five additional years.
IPR Infringement. There were 107 active section 337 investigations and ancillary proceedings (down from 140), 50 of which were instituted in 2023 (down from 80). The ITC completed 57 investigations and ancillary proceedings (down from 83) and issued one general exclusion order (down from eight), 11 limited exclusion orders (down from 14), and 39 cease and desist orders (down from 61). Computer and telecommunications equipment accounted for about 36 percent of the active proceedings, followed by consumer electronics at 12.1 percent.
National Security. The DOC instituted no new Section 232 national security investigations. Developments included extending the suspension of Section 232 tariffs on steel articles and derivatives from Ukraine and modification of tariff-rate quotas for European Union aluminum, Japanese steel, and United Kingdom steel and aluminum.
WTO Dispute Settlement. WTO members filed six new requests for dispute settlement consultations (down from eight). Only one dispute was filed against the U.S., by Argentina, and the U.S. filed no new disputes.
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