International Trade Commission Makes Affirmative Preliminary Determination in Trade Cases on Wine Bottles from Chile, China, and Mexico
WASHINGTON (February 12, 2024) - In a preliminary victory for the U.S. industry, the U.S. International Trade Commission (Commission) found on Friday, February 9th, that there is a reasonable indication that the domestic wine bottle industry is injured as a result of imports from Chile, China, and Mexico.
The Commission’s unanimous affirmative vote comes in response to petitions filed December 29, 2023, by the U.S. Glass Producers Coalition. The petitions allege that unfairly dumped and subsidized wine bottles are injuring the domestic industry.
“Foreign countries and producers that do not abide by international trade rules must be held accountable,” said Daniel B. Pickard, lead counsel to the petitioner and Buchanan’s International Trade and National Security Practice Group leader. “This vote takes the domestic industry one step closer to ensuring that U.S. glass wine bottle producers can compete in a fair market.”
On January 18, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the initiation of antidumping (AD) investigations into imports of wine bottles from Chile, China, and Mexico. The dumping margins for imports are alleged to be as high as 609.71%. On the same day, the Department of Commerce also initiated a countervailing duty (CVD) investigation into glass wine bottles from China.
The Commission’s affirmative preliminary injury determination paves the way for the Department of Commerce to move forward with its investigations. Commerce is expected to issue its preliminary CVD determination in March 2024 and its preliminary AD determinations in June 2024. If Commerce reaches affirmative preliminary determinations in these cases, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will begin collecting provisional AD and CVD duties based on the preliminary margins calculated.
The Commission’s final phase investigation will occur no later than January 2025. If both the Commission and Commerce reach affirmative final determinations, AD orders on wine bottles from Chile, China, and Mexico and a CVD order on wine bottles from China will be issued, imposing duties on the unfairly traded imports for a minimum of five years.
The Buchanan team representing the petitioner also includes Milton Koch, Jacob Garten, Claire Webster, and Amanda Wetzel.