U.S. Alleges Quartz-Surface Tariff Evasion
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Federal customs officials may cite 15 U.S. companies for attempting to evade unfair-trade tariffs on Chinese quartz surfaces by sending them via Malaysia.
Cambria Company LLC announced on Monday that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency made a preliminary determination that the U.S. importers evaded the antidumping and countervailing duties levied on on quartz surface products from China since June 2019.
Following this initial determination, Customs has seven months to continue its investigation and determine appropriate penalties.
“Importers of illegal quartz surface products are on notice. U.S. Customs, Cambria, and other domestic quartz producers will not allow transshipping and illicit schemes that violate existing U.S. trade laws and tariffs imposed by the Commerce and Trade Departments,” said Marty Davis, Cambria president/CEO. “Cambria will continue its work to ensure free and fair trade on a level playing field for American businesses, and in doing so protecting U.S. manufacturers and their employees from illegal foreign trade.“
The importers allegedly brought the Chinese quartz surfaces into the United States by transshipping, a practice where goods from one company are shipped to a second country that’s then declared the place of manufacture and origin.
Under the terms of the U.S. Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA), U.S. companies can ask the CBP to investigate possible trade-act violations, including tariff evasion. EAPA does not have a knowledge requirement for Customs to find that evasion is taking place.
In a news release, Cambria noted that one of the importers participating in the evasion scheme has claimed to Customs that it never had any contact with the Malaysian transshipment company and purchased the quartz-surface products through a U.S. company that claimed to be a partner in the Malaysian company.
Importers need to make certain of product sources to avoid transshipping, including documentation from the manufacturer and the country. (See “The Dangers of the Big Switch,” November/December 2019 Stone Update Magazine.)
“Cambria continues to work with Customs to identify and hold responsible any foreign exporters and U.S. importers that are evading the AD/CVD duties through transshipment or any other evasion scheme,” according to the news release.
“We applaud the diligence of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and appreciate their continued work to ensure that U.S. manufacturers are able to compete fairly,” Davis added. “You cannot have free trade without fair trade.”
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