As any Customs broker can tell you, there are an ever-increasing number of antidumping duty cases filed. It is imperative that importers (and their brokers) understand this topic. Dumping duties are tariffs imposed by a government when it believes foreign goods are being sold below their fair market value or cost of production. The whole world does it. This practice of foreign goods being “dumped” below cost both skews the market and cripples domestic competitors. In the United States it is not uncommon for antidumping duties to be implemented at rates of 100% or 200% of invoice value; this is in hopes of protecting domestic competitors and insulating the market from below-cost distortion. Ideally, this raises the goods’ U.S. sale price to something closer to the cost of production with some profit. For a complete overview of the countervailing duty petition and investigation process please reference the following handbook released by the United States International Trade Commission: https://www.usitc.gov/trade_remedy/documents/handbook.pdf.
Antidumping duties can be crippling to companies who do not realize they are subject to such payments, which is why it is extremely important to be aware of which duties pertain to the products you import. At this time we have people who sold goods three years ago being advised that they owe 214% duty! Can you imagine the devastating surprise? The Mooney Law Firm is involved in antidumping cases involving products such as seafood, ball bearings, solar panels, oversized tires, garlic, auto parts, wooden bedroom furniture, refrigerator parts, and more; this range of products demonstrates that antidumping cases can be brought in virtually all industries. As the importer, you are responsible for determining which duties apply to the goods you import. In addition to payment of back duties, the fines for neglecting to pay these antidumping duties on time are significant, which is why it is critical to be attentive and accountable for what you are importing. You don’t want that 214% duty bill some years after the goods have been sold! You are able to search by case number in the following database categorizing all of the active antidumping and countervailing duty cases: http://adcvd.cbp.dhs.gov/adcvdweb/ad_cvd_msgs?utf8=%E2%9C%93&commit=View+most+recent+messages.
Note that the agency responsible for enforcing antidumping duties is the Department of Commerce: most mistakenly assume it is Customs. Under the umbrella of the DOC, the United States International Trade Commission is the federal agency in charge of investigating claims of dumping. As an importer you have an obligation to be accountable for the product you bring in, and an important piece of this is abiding by the proper duty payments.
