China Quartz-Only Tariffs Delayed
WASHINGTON – Tariffs on Chinese quartz-surfaces products, to be assessed as part of an unfair-trade complaint filed by a U.S. manufacturer earlier this year, won’t start this month.
The federal Commerce Department acted late last month to delay initial decisions on tariffs, which were originally set for last Wednesday (July 11).
A June 29 announcement in the Federal Register noted that “preliminary determination” will now be “no later” than Sept. 14.
The delay came at the request of Cambria Company LLC, the Minnesota-based company that filed the petition in April alleging below-market-price, subsidized imports of quartz-surface products from China.
The U.S. International Trade Commission agreed on May 31 that U.S. based manufacturers suffered enough financial harm from unfair trade practices. The issue then went to the Commerce Department to determine punitive duties related to countervailing (involving foreign-government subsidy) and antidumping (addressing below-market sales) practices.
In a June 11 letter to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross Jr., legal counsel for Cambria noted that the deadline set for questionnaires sent by the Commerce Department to various respondents would be after the July 11 date set for initial action on countervailing duties. Cambria also sought more time to investigate possible subsidy benefits received by manufacturers and exporters in China.
The new Sept. 14 deadline is the maximum time allowed by federal statute. Cambria’s counsel had asked Secretary Ross for the maximum time possible.
Questionnaire recipients include the government of the People’s Republic of China and two companies selected as respondents by the Commerce Department: Fasa Industrial Corporation Ltd. and Foshan Yixin Stone Co. Ltd.
Other actions by the Commerce Department in its investigation included a site visit on June 12 by six Enforcement and Compliance officials to Cambria’s manufacturing plant in LeSueur, Minn.
The tariffs related to the Cambria unfair-trade-practices petition are separate from the 10% add-on tariff proposed by the Trump administration earlier this month.
Get the news of the industry with Slab & Sheet, the e-newsletter from Stone Update. Sign up for free delivery here.
For the latest industry info, check Stone Update on Twitter and Facebook.
Experience the totally new Stone Update Magazine online.
