Editors note. Administration continues increasing trade enforcement.
Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the initiation of new antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations to determine whether ceramic tile from China is being dumped in the United States and to determine if producers in China are receiving unfair subsidies.
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
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U.S. Department of Commerce Initiates Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Investigations of Imports of Ceramic Tile from China
These antidumping and countervailing duty investigations were initiated based on petitions filed by the Coalition for Fair Trade in Ceramic Tile on April 10, 2019. The members of the Coalition for Fair Trade in Ceramic Tile are American Wonder Porcelain (Lebanon, TN), Crossville, Inc. (Crossville, TN), Dal-Tile Corporation (Dallas, TX), Del Conca USA, Inc. (Loudon, TN), Florida Tile, Inc. (Lexington, KY), Florim USA (Clarksville, TN), Landmark Ceramics (Mount Pleasant, TN), and StonePeak Ceramics (Chicago, IL).
The alleged dumping margins for China range from 127.33 to 356.02 percent.
There are 45 subsidy programs alleged in the China countervailing duty investigation, including lending programs, tax programs, and grant programs, in addition to provision of inputs, services, and land for less than adequate remuneration programs.
If Commerce makes affirmative findings in these investigations, and if the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) determines that dumped and/or unfairly subsidized U.S. imports of ceramic tile from China are causing injury to the U.S. industry, Commerce will impose duties on those imports in the amount of dumping and/or unfair subsidization found to exist.
In 2018, imports of ceramic tile from China were valued at an estimated $483.1 million.
Click HERE for a fact sheet on these initiations.
Next Steps:
During Commerce’s investigations into whether ceramic tile from China is being dumped and/or unfairly subsidized, the ITC will conduct its own investigations into whether the U.S. industry and its workforce are being harmed by such imports. The ITC will make its preliminary determinations on or before May 28, 2019. If the ITC preliminarily determines that there is injury or threat of injury, then Commerce’s investigations will continue, with the preliminary CVD determination scheduled for July 5, 2019, and the preliminary AD determination scheduled for September 17, 2019, unless these deadlines are extended.
If Commerce preliminarily determines that dumping and/or unfair subsidization is occurring, then it will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to start collecting cash deposits from all U.S. companies importing ceramic tile from China.
Final determinations by Commerce in these cases are scheduled for September 18, 2019, for the CVD investigation, and December 2, 2019, for the AD investigation, but those dates may be extended. If Commerce finds that products are not being dumped and/or unfairly subsidized, or the ITC finds in its final determinations there is no harm to the U.S. industry, then the investigations will be terminated and no duties will be applied.
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 160 new antidumping and countervailing duty investigations – this is a 220 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 477 antidumping and countervailing duty orders which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.
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 law and is based on factual evidence provided on the record.
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.
