CBP Issues Determination as to Evasion in Enforce and Protect Act Investigation
WASHINGTON—On September 23, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued its determination as to evasion against AB MA Distribution Corp (AB MA) and J&S Trading Inc. (J&S) (collectively, the Importers) in its Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) investigation into the evasion of an antidumping duty order for steel wire hangers from The People’s Republic of China. EAPA found that substantial evidence that the Importers evaded antidumping duty order A-570-918 by transshipping hangers through India, not reporting the entries as subject to antidumping and countervailing duty orders, and failing to pay cash deposits. As a result, the Importers evaded a significant amount of antidumping duties owed to the U.S. Government.
In light of CBP’s determination that the Importers entered covered merchandise into the customs territory of the United States through evasion, and pursuant to its authorities under EAPA, CBP will continue to:
- Rate adjust and change to Entry Type 03 all extended and unliquidated entries of subject merchandise under this investigation.
- Suspend the final computation or determination of the duties (liquidation) for any entry imported by the Importers on or after October 30, 2018, the date of initiation of this case;
- Extend the period for liquidation for all unliquidated entries that entered before that date until instructed to liquidate these entries; and
- Require single transaction bonds, as appropriate, and evaluate the sufficiency of the importer’s continuous bond
These actions do not preclude CBP from taking additional enforcement measures as it determines appropriate under its EAPA or other legal authorities, which include pursuing civil penalties or investigations into criminal violations.
For additional information on CBP and EAPA, please visit CBP.gov. If you suspect an importer of duty evasion, CBP encourages you to submit an allegation through our online portal.
Follow CBP Office of Trade on Twitter @CBPTradeGov.