Update from CTDA’s Trade Attorney on Trade and Tariff Developments Regarding Indian Tile

September 09, 2024 from CTDA

This is to provide you with another update on today’s trade and tariff developments that can have a substantial impact on the business of CTDA members who are importers. These developments concern the Countervailing Duty (“CVD”) and Antidumping (“AD”) Cases involving Ceramic Tile from India, Case Nos. C-533-929 and A-533-928. These cases were initiated and prosecuted by the Coalition for Fair Trade in Ceramic Tile.

This afternoon, the International Trade Administration of the Commerce Department (“ITA”) took several actions that will impact US importers of Indian tile.

ITA makes a preliminary affirmative determination of countervailing subsidies . . .

First, ITA issued an affirmative preliminary determination that countervailable subsidies from the Indian government are being received by the Indian ceramic tile manufacturing industry. Further to this decision, ITA also established preliminary percentage margins (CVD duty deposit rates) that must be posted by the importers filing entries of these products on or after September 25th (tomorrow, the expected publication date of the notice in the Federal Register). The margins are relatively minimal, especially compared to those set in the ITA’s Preliminary Determination in the CVD case involving ceramic tile imported into the US from China which ranged from 103.77 to 222.24 percent:

Antiqa Minerals 3.15

Win-Tel Ceramics Private Limited 3.05

All Others 3.08

The “All Others” rate will apply to Indian ceramic tile sent to the US by manufacturers and exporters other than the two named manufacturers or exporters. The ITA will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of entries of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of this notice in Federal Register, which is expected to be tomorrow, September 25th. Commerce will also instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the margins it has set.

ITA makes a preliminary finding of “critical circumstances” . . .

Second, citing a purported “surge” in US imports of Indian ceramic tile since the filing of the CVD petition, the Tile Coalition previously requested that Commerce make a finding of “critical circumstances” which would retroactively apply the CVD duty deposit requirements to certain prior import entries of Indian tile. Today, the ITA preliminarily determined that critical circumstances do not exist with respect to U.S. imports of subject merchandise from the two Indian suppliers assigned individual margins: Antiqa Minerals and Win-Tel Ceramics Private Limited. However, Commerce preliminarily found that critical circumstances do exist for all other Indian exporters or producers of ceramic tile. This decision mandates that suspension of liquidation shall apply to unliquidated entries of the Indian tile that were imported from the exporters/producers assigned an “All Others” CVD deposit rate for import shipments that were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date which is 90 days before the publication of the ITA Federal Register notice. This retroactive duty deposit requirement for the “All Others” exporters and manufacturers of Indian tile would appear to apply to import entries filed on or after June 26, 2024.

ITA Preliminary Determination on Antidumping Petition postponed . . .

Third, at the request of the Coalition, the ITA has postponed the date of issuance of the Preliminary Determination in the companion Antidumping case to November 22, 2024.

Alignment of CVD and AD final determinations to same date . . .

Fourth, the ITA is aligning the final CVD determination in this investigation with the f inal determination in the companion antidumping duty (AD) investigation of ceramic tile from India. Consequently, the final CVD determination by the ITA will be issued on the same date as the final AD determination, which is currently scheduled to be issued no later than February 5, 2025, unless postponed.

Opportunities for Participation in the CVD case . . .

Fifth, interested parties will have the opportunity to submit product scope case and rebuttal briefs on the preliminary decision regarding the scope of the LTFV and CVD investigations. If you wish to participate in this process and need further information on this or any other issue, please contact CTDA at your convenience.