Trade war: U.S slams duties on metal file cabinets from China

Last updated: 2019/07/26 at 3:23 PM

starconnect Published 26 July 2019

President Donald Trump of the United States and his counterpart from China, President Xi Jinping

Admin l Friday, July 26, 2019

LAGOS, Nigeria – The Department of Commerce in the United States has said it will instruct U.S Customs and Border Protection forces to collect cash deposits from importers of vertical metal file cabinets from China.

The U.S made the decision after preliminary determinations in the antidumping (AD) countervailing duty (CVD) investigations of imports of vertical metal file cabinets from China, finding that exporters received antidumping duty rates of 198.50 percent and countervailable subsidies of 227.10 percent.

Based on these preliminary determinations, the Department of Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers of vertical metal file cabinets from China based on these preliminary rates.

In 2018, imports of vertical metal file cabinets from China were valued at an estimated $45.2 million. The petitioner is Hirsh Industries LLC (West Des Moines, IA).

“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 172 new antidumping and countervailing duty investigations – this is a 219 percent increase from the comparable period in the previous administration”, the department said.

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 492 antidumping and countervailing duty orders which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.Commerce is currently scheduled to announce its final AD and CVD determinations on or about October 8, 2019.

“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”, the department said.