The US Department of Commerce (Commerce) has preliminarily determined that the government of China unfairly subsidises its glass wine bottle industry.
Commerce calculated affirmative preliminary countervailing duty rates ranging from 21.14% to 202.70% for all Chinese producers.
Commerce will now instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to begin suspending liquidation and collecting cash deposits on entries of wine bottles from China.
The determination also establishes the preliminary duty rates for this investigation
These preliminary subsidy rates may increase before Commerce's final determination, which is expected in August 2024.
These rates cover only the countervailing duty investigation and do not yet include the additional duties from the companion antidumping duty investigation on wine bottles from China, or the margins from the ongoing antidumping duty investigations on wine bottles from Chile and Mexico.
Preliminary dumping margins in all three antidumping duty investigations will be released in late July 2024.
Daniel B. Pickard, lead counsel to the Petitioner and International Trade and National Security practice group leader at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney said: "It is critical that Commerce continue to rigorously investigate the Chinese government's unfair subsidization of its wine bottle industry."
Commerce also made an affirmative ‘critical circumstances’ determination. This finding triggers a 90-day retroactive application of the cash deposit requirement.
Consequently, importers of Chinese wine bottles will be liable for cash deposits of up to 202.70% for shipments that entered the USA within the three months prior to the effective date of Commerce's decision and also on a going forward basis.
