International Trade
The United States is known around the world for its well-developed laws governing international trade that, depending upon your perspective, either “level the playing field” by imposing antidumping or countervailing duties or impair one's ability to export to the U.S. market.
If you are an importer of merchandise, and your customs broker advises that your goods may be subject to antidumping or countervailing duties, you may want to confirm this fact by contacting counsel to examine in detail the scope of the antidumping or countervailing duty order in question. Whether an antidumping or countervailing duty order in fact covers your specific merchandise is often a critical issue, as a profitable transaction under normal duty rates often turns into a loss when large antidumping or countervailing duty rates are applied. We also counsel clients that may have mistakenly not paid antidumping duties in the past, as prompt disclosure of this mistake may reduce or eliminate Customs penalties.
If your U.S. company’s output represents a large portion of the U.S. industry’s domestic production, and you are being injured by “dumped” imports sold at less than fair value, you may consider seeking relief by filing an antidumping duty petition. We, along with D.C.-based economists with whom we maintain strong relationships, can assist you in determining whether this type of relief is practical by analyzing whether dumping is occurring and, if so, at what level.
If you are a foreign exporter of merchandise subject to antidumping duties, you may be named as a respondent in an administrative review. If you are named a respondent in an administrative review and do not respond, your product may be subject to a very high antidumping duty rate in the U.S. in the future, effectively eliminating your ability to export to the U.S. market. As a foreign manufacturer, it is possible to request an administrative review to determine what your company-specific antidumping duty rate should be, provided that you export a significant amount of goods to the U.S. This procedure may result in a lower, more favorable antidumping duty rate, enabling your company to continue to export to the U.S. market with minimal disruption.
