Spanish Exports

The antidumping duty rates for Spanish ripe olives came in late last Friday and they are, unfortunately, quite high.

“The Department of Commerce preliminarily determines that ripe olives from Spain are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation is April 1, 2016, through March 31, 2017. “

Here are the estimated weighted-average dumping margins, together with the previously determined countervailing duty rates:

These duty rates will go into effect on the day this ruling is published (later this week) in the Federal Register and importers on record will have to pay cash deposits to CBP after every entry, effective immediately.

The United States Antidumping Law and Practice allows that any exporter of the goods which are subject to that order request that Commerce conduct a review of the previous year’s imports, one year after publication of an antidumping order, as well as during each subsequent year. The purpose of these administrative annual reviews is to calculate and assess the exact amount by which the foreign market value exceeded the U.S. price of each importation during that year and to recalculate the estimated duty rate for deposits on future entries of the goods.

An administrative review is conducted in essentially the same manner as Commerce’s initial antidumping investigation, and generally must be completed within one year. Commerce will issue a questionnaire similar to that used in the original investigation and will calculate preliminary and final antidumping margins.

Depending on the new margin calculation an importer can receive a refund plus interest if the estimated duty deposit was too high or pay additional sum plus interest if the estimated duty previously paid was too low.

The results of the DOC’s preliminary investigation were published in the Federal Register on November 28, 2017.

(https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/11/28/2017-25660/ripe-olives-from-spain-preliminary-affirmative-countervailing-duty-determination-and-alignment-of)

The International Trade Commission has issued the following Fact Sheet for the interested parties to better understand the decision and to be aware of the timeline of the steps that will follow. At the same time the investigation into the antidumping case continues and a preliminary decision is expected to be reached on or around January 18, 2018.

• On November 21, 2017, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) announced the preliminary results of the countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of imports of ripe olives from Spain.
• The CVD law provides U.S. businesses and workers with a transparent, quasi-judicial, and internationally accepted mechanism to seek relief from the market-distorting effects caused by injurious dumping and unfair subsidization of imports into the United States, establishing an opportunity to compete on a level playing field.
• For the purpose of CVD investigations, a countervailable subsidy is financial assistance from a foreign government that benefits the production of goods from foreign companies and is limited to specific enterprises or industries, or is contingent either upon export performance or upon the use of domestic goods over imported goods.
• Commerce has calculated a preliminary subsidy rate of 2.31 percent for mandatory respondent, Aceitunas Guadalquivir S.L.U.; 2.47 percent for Agro Sevilla Aceitunas S.Coop.And.; and, 7.24 percent for Angel Camacho Alimentacion S.L.. All other producers/exporters in Spain have been assigned a preliminary subsidy rate of 4.47 percent.
• As a result of the preliminary affirmative determination, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to require cash deposits based on these preliminary rates.

NEXT STEPS

• Commerce is scheduled to announce its final determination on or about April 4, 2018, unless the statutory deadline is extended.
• If Commerce makes an affirmative final determination, and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) makes an affirmative final determination that imports of ripe olives from Spain materially injure, or threaten material injury to, the domestic industry, Commerce will issue a CVD order. If either Commerce’s or the ITC’s final determinations are negative, no CVD order will be issued. The ITC is scheduled to make its final injury determination approximately 45 days after Commerce issues its final determination, if affirmative.

PRELIMINARY SUBSIDY RATES: SPAIN

EXPORTER/PRODUCER SUBSIDY RATE:
Aceitunas Guadalquivir S.L.U.:
2.31%:
Agro Sevilla Aceitunas S.Coop.And.:
2.47%
Angel Camacho Alimentacion S.L.:
7.24%
All Others:
4.47%

CASE CALENDAR BY EVENT VS. CVD INVESTIGATION DATE:

Petition Filed: June 22, 2017
DOC Initiation Date: July 12, 2017
ITC Preliminary Determination*: August 11, 2017†
DOC Preliminary Determination**: November 20, 2017
DOC Final Determination**: April 3, 2018†
ITC Final Determination***: May 18, 2018
Issuance of Order****: May 25, 2018

NOTE: Commerce preliminary and final determination deadlines are governed by statute. For CVD investigations, the deadlines are set forth in sections 703(b) and 705(a)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). These deadlines may be extended under certain circumstances.
†Where the deadline falls on a weekend/holiday, the appropriate date is the next business day.
* If the ITC makes a negative preliminary determination of injury, the investigation is terminated.
**These deadlines may be extended under the governing statute.
***This will take place only in the event of a final affirmative determination from Commerce.
****This will take place only in the event of a final affirmative determination from Commerce and the ITC.