As the Trump administration comes into its third month, we have clues, but must speculate on how that administration will modify Iran sanctions, NAFTA, foreign investment, and tariffs on China. In contrast, recently issued executive orders shed clear light on the Trump administration’s approach to antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD). (See our August 2016 blog for a general background on AD/CVD.)
The Revival of the Age of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Cases
For the first time since the era of pagers, dial-up, and Y2K hysteria, U.S. trade remedy cases are experiencing a resurgence. Under U.S. law, U.S. producers of goods may petition the U.S. government to impose extra tariffs on the import of competing goods deemed to be traded unfairly.
Continue Reading The Revival of the Age of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Cases
Biden Veto Maintains Solar Tariff Moratorium
On May 16, 2023, President Joseph Biden vetoed the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would have nullified the temporary moratorium on the collection of antidumping and countervailing (AD/CVD) duties on imports of certain solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. See House Joint Resolution (H.J. Res.) 39.
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Commerce Department Adds Guardrails Against Stockpiling of Certain Solar Cells and Modules During Temporary Waiver of AD/CVD Duties
On September 16, 2022, the U.S. Commerce Department released its final rule regarding antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) circumvention inquiries on solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The rule implements President Biden’s June 6, 2022, Proclamation 10414, (which we discuss here) declaring an emergency with respect to the U.S. energy market, and temporarily waives the collection of AD/CVD duties for certain cells and modules subject to the AD/CVD anticircumvention inquiry initiated by Commerce in April 2022.
Continue Reading Commerce Department Adds Guardrails Against Stockpiling of Certain Solar Cells and Modules During Temporary Waiver of AD/CVD Duties
The Trend of Production Moving from China to Mexico – Regulatory and Practical Considerations: Zai Jian Zhongguo, Bienvenidos a México
In recent years, a wide array of trade actions pursued by the United States, foreign and domestic policies of the United States and China, reputational risks, and supply chain breakdowns are driving a trend of more and more manufacturing moving from Asia to Mexico. The Biden Administration has made no secret of its desire to encourage U.S. manufacturers and their component suppliers to move production from China to Mexico.[i]
Making Sense of the Solar Supply Chain Issues
As current supply chain issues continue to threaten the U.S. photovoltaic solar industry, solar module suppliers, manufacturers, renewable energy developers and utilities alike face great uncertainty surrounding the immediate future of the solar module supply market. The bottom-line is that supply chain issues are increasing shipping and equipment costs for solar cells and panels, however, there are several independent factors that are working together to drive this surge in pricing and constrained market. These factors include the following:
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Does Your Trade Policy Support Your Company’s Values?
If your company is like many, your board of directors may be demanding that you put more effort into environmental, social, and governance issues, which have become known by the now-ubiquitous acronym “ESG.” Those demands don’t come from nowhere: consumers are demanding transparency and social responsibility. In particular, if your company does business internationally, regulators are focused on international social justice issues (such as the use of forced labor) more than ever.
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Sick without Symptoms: How Multi-Million Dollar Customs Issues are Ailing U.S. Companies Without Warning
Is your company in a high-risk zone? Does it have the following risk characteristics?
✓ Your company imports more than $10 million of goods.
✓ You are mid-market: between $50 million and $2 billion in annual turnover.
✓ Your company has experienced higher than average growth in revenues, personnel, or imports over the past 2 – 10 years.
If your company fits this profile, you may be at an elevated risk of customs violations. Many companies in this high-risk zone have outgrown their customs compliance function. Without knowing it, they may be creating violations and, since the statute of limitations is five years, they may not know about the violations until the government comes knocking on their door years after the fact. Continue Reading Sick without Symptoms: How Multi-Million Dollar Customs Issues are Ailing U.S. Companies Without Warning
Update from the Trump Trade War Front: Tariffs Will Not Increase March 2*
*This is an updated version of the February 21st blog post.
Key Takeaways:
Many U.S. companies continue to struggle under the burden of President Trump’s tariffs on imports from China. The President has postponed a scheduled March 2, 2019 deadline to increase the tariff rate on many Chinese products from 10 to 25 percent.
When we went to press with the first version of this article (February 21, 2019), negotiations between the United States and China had failed to reach an agreement that would prevent the tariff increase.
Now the President has decided that progress in those negotiations has been “substantial.” On that basis, he directed U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to postpone the March 2 tariff increase until further notice. Continue Reading Update from the Trump Trade War Front: Tariffs Will Not Increase March 2*
The New NAFTA: the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)
A tripartite agreement to save the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has just been reached. Since June 2017, the United States, Canada, and Mexico have been renegotiating NAFTA. After over a year of negotiations, late on Sunday night, September 30, 2018, Canada agreed to sign the revised agreement. That agreement is called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. Continue Reading The New NAFTA: the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)