Commerce has now extended the final determination for the 2001-2002 Annual Review on candles exported from the PRC until March 8, 2004, at which time the countrywide rate may be increased to 95.74%.

This newsletter, updates status of the 2001-02 and 2002-03 antidumping administrative reviews of petroleum wax candles from China, as described in our newsletter of October 15, 2003.

1.                2001-02 Administrative Review

On December 17, 2003, Commerce published a Federal Register notice, indicating that the final determination for the 2001-02 Administrative Review will be postponed for 60 days, up to and including March 8, 2004.  Commerce indicates that they need more time to complete their review for two of the Chinese exporters involved in the review (Dongguan Fay Candle Co. and Qingdao Kingking).

In its September 9, 2003, Federal Register notice, Commerce indicated that the China-wide rate on candles imported from China would now be 95.74%.  The final determination is now due March 8, 2004.  The September 9, 2003, notice indicated that the 95.74% rate would apply to all of the companies in Attachment I, which listed over 90 Chinese candle suppliers.  What the preliminary notice did not indicate, but which we expect to be articulated in the final determination, is that the 95.74% rate will also apply to all other Chinese candle suppliers who have not been given a specific company rate.  This means that the 54.21% China-wide rate will most likely be replaced by the 95.74% rate on March 8, 2004.

With regard to retroactive duties, only importers whose entries are unliquidated and who purchased during the period of review (August 1, 2001-July 31, 2002) from the suppliers named in the September 9, 2003, Federal Register notice will be subject to the 95.74% rate.  We recommend that importers determine whether they purchased from these suppliers during the period of review and whether their entries remain unliquidated at this time to determine whether they may receive substantial retroactive antidumping duty increases, if the 95.74% becomes final

For importers who imported from companies not named in the September 9, 2003, Federal Register notice, their entries should have already liquidated at the 54.21% rate.  We also recommend that the liquidation status of these entries be determined.

2.                2002-03 Administrative Review

In our last newsletter, we reported that for the 2002-03 review (August 1, 2002, to July 31, 2003), only 23 Chinese exporters/producers of petroleum wax candles were named in the review.  It is our understanding that Commerce recently forwarded a Quantity and Value (Q & V) questionnaire to the 23 named companies, which were listed in one of our prior newsletters on this topic.  This so-called "mini-questionnaire" is intended to determine the major exporters of petroleum wax candles from China.  Once the responses are reviewed at Commerce (they were due December 15, 2003), we expect Commerce to determine which of the 23 companies will be issued the full antidumping questionnaires. 

We recommend that importers determine as soon as possible whether any of their Chinese suppliers have received this mini-questionnaire and whether they have provided responses.  Responding to these questionnaires is complex, and we recommend that assistance be obtained to review that adequacy of these responses to the full-length questionnaires issued by Commerce. 

If you have any questions on any of the issues raised in this newsletter or any other Customs related issues, please contact George R. Tuttle at (415) 288-0425 or via email at grt@tuttlelaw.com.

George R. Tuttle is an attorney with the Law Offices of George R. Tuttle in San Francisco. The information in this article is general in nature and is not intended to constitute legal advice or to create an attorney-client relationship with respect to any event or occurrence, and may not be considered as such.