U.S. Census Seeks Comments On Routed Export Transactions
Elizabeth Owerbach
On October 6, 2017, the U.S. Census Bureau published a Federal Register notice inviting public comment on the regulations for routed export transactions. Routed export transactions occur when a Foreign Principal Party in Interest (FPPI) directs the movement of goods outside the United States and authorizes a U.S. agent to file Electronic Export Information pursuant to the Foreign Trade Regulations on their behalf.
The comments seek input on a variety of topics, including:
1. If you do not think that the definition of a routed export transaction in 15 C.F.R. 30.1 is clearly stated, then what definition of routed export transaction would you suggest?
2. Should the Census Bureau modify the list of data elements at 15 C.F.R. 30.3(e)(2) that the U.S. authorized agent is required to provide when filing the electronic export information? If so, what changes would you suggest?
3. Should the Census Bureau modify the list of data elements at 15 C.F.R. 30.3(e)(1) that the U.S. Principal Party in Interest is required to provide to the U.S. Authorized agent? If so, what changes would you suggest?
Comments are due by December 5, 2017, and may be submitted directly or via http://www.regulations.gov.
Commerce Continues China’s Non-Market Economy Status
Richard Lutz
On October 27, 2017, the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) announced its affirmative preliminary determination in the antidumping investigation involving Certain Aluminum Foil from China. As part of this investigation, Commerce also initiated an investigation into the status of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a non-market economy (NME). In conducting its inquiry into the status of the PRC as a NME country, Commerce considered six factors established in U.S. law, including the convertibility of Chinese currency, whether wage rates are determined by free bargaining between labor and management, restrictions on foreign investment, the extent of government ownership or control of the means of production, government control over the allocation of resources and over the price and output decisions of enterprises, and other factors.
Commerce concluded that China should continue to be treated as an NME country. Commerce explained that “the Chinese government continues to maintain and exercise broad discretion to allocate resources with the goal of achieving specific economic outcomes. China’s institutional structure and the control the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party exercise through that structure result in fundamental economic distortions, such that non-market conditions prevail in the operation of China’s economy.” Commerce also found that “these non-market conditions are built upon deeply entrenched institutional and governance features of China’s Party-state, and on a legal mandate to ‘maintain a leading role for the state sector.’” As a result, Commerce determined that “China is a NME country” because “it does not operate sufficiently on market principles to permit the use of Chinese prices and costs for purposes of the Department’s antidumping analysis.”
