U.S. Customs Upholds More China Quartz Actions

WASHINGTON – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) affirmed the evasion of unfair-trade tariffs on Chinese quartz surfaces in two more cases during the past 30 days.

The CBP found evidence of transshipping surfaces from China in actions involving Superior Commercial Solutions LLC (SCS) of North Salt Lake, Utah, and LTT International Trading Co. of Chino, Calif., as part of Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) investigation.

CBP issued Notices of Determination against SCS on Aug. 31 and LTT on Sept. 12.

Both companies will be liable for the 371.45% unfair-trade duties imposed on Chinese-made quartz surfaces and will have future imports monitored by the federal agency. CBP will also hold final processing (or suspend liquidation) of quartz-surface imports by the two companies.

Cambria Company LLC of LeSueur, Minn., filed allegations against both companies last year with the CBP’s Enforcement Operations Division of the Trade Remedy Law Enforcement Directorate.

The SCS case dealt mainly with Vietnam-based suppliers of quartz-surface products, including furniture tops. Cambria alleged that the suppliers imported quartz surfaces from China, but declared on shipment to the United States that the products were Vietnamese-made.

The CBP found that Engga Company Limited, Kales Quartz Company Limited, and Strry Manufacturing Company Limited failed to produce documents or provided false statements in seven difference instances during the investigation. The three companies also agreed to allow CBP to conduct onsite verification at their facilities in Vietnam in late June, only to cancel the inspections on June 9.

SCS stated that it didn’t know the materials were Chinese-made when importing the products. However, the CPB cited a June 2023 ruling by the federal Court of International Trade (Ikadan Sys. USA, Inc. v. United States) that rejected the concept that a material false statement must include culpability.

“As such,” the CPB ruled, “an importer need not be culpable or have knowledge that they are making a material false statement to be liable for evasion. In this case, SCS made material false statements when it declared that the country of origin of the QSP (quartz surface product) it entered from Kales/Engga was Vietnam.”

With LTT, the CBP noted LTT and the listed Taiwanese manufacturers of quartz products didn’t fully respond to the agency during the investigation. Documents received by the CBP included odd discrepancies in dates; also, a certificate of origin submitted for products turned up a “no records” result when entered into the Taiwan government’s online origin verification system.