Has Anti-Dumping Become a Hurdle to Your Importing?
Importing into the US is no 100 meter dash. Whatever race your shipment is in, when you add Anti-Dumping (AD) and Countervailing (CV) Duties to the equation, you may feel like you’re running a marathon of hurdles. Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duties are levied by US Customs in order to even the playing field. Although they can be seen as a hurdle for importers, this is meant to allow fair trade and to deter unfair trade. Dumping occurs when a foreign producer sells at prices below those in its own home market or at a price below its cost of production. Countervailing occurs when a foreign government subsidizes its industry that exports to the United States.
If your goods become subject to AD or CV Duty, one solution is to look for an alternative to the investigated product; this avoids having to possibly pay larger duties.
But my goods already crossed the finish line, will the duty rate change?
Suspended entries that are subject to anti-dumping and countervailing duties have a wide range of time in which they can be liquidated. Liquidation could take anywhere from 321 days to 4 years. This is all determined by the number of extensions granted by customs. If an entry is not liquidated within one year of entry and no extensions are granted, it will be assumed to be liquidated at the rate and duty amount estimated on entry. Liquidation can be extended in one year increments, giving Customs up to four years to liquidate entries. After liquidation, Customs has 90 days to reopen the entry and reliquidate it. This is rarely done, but it is within Customs’ regulations to do so.
If your goods were not subject to AD or CV duty when they entered the US and were not liquidated and then an AD or CV duty was passed on those goods, they may be liquidated at a different rate. If a new duty is passed on those goods, US Customs begins to liquidate all of the suspended entries from the time of the investigation. Much of the imported merchandise ends up being liquidated at a different rate than the estimated rate when it first came into the country.
Will my goods be delayed due to an AD or CV duty investigation?
Since Customs is focused on a post-entry status method of determining duties, suspended entries will still get to the importer in a timely fashion. Some or all of the merchandise may already be sold by the importer by the time the actual duties are paid. When the entries come into the United States, Customs charges an estimated duty amount, and at liquidation, if Customs determines that there is additional duty due on the imports or that the importer has been charged a duty amount that is too high, Customs will either collect on the additional duty or give a refund for the additional amount paid.
All entries into the U.S. are subject to different regulations. Keep yourself informed on the regulations affecting your imports to ensure best practices within your organization’s import processes.