Order Code RS22290
Updated October 12, 2006
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Trade Remedies: “New Shipper” Reviews
Vivian C. Jones
Specialist in International Trade and Finance
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Summary
Some U.S. producers of the kinds of merchandise subject to antidumping (AD) or
countervailing (CV) duties have complained that U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) has not been able to successfully collect the full amount of duties owed on
targeted imports. One of the “loopholes” often cited is a U.S. law that allows importers
receiving goods from new exporters of the targeted merchandise to post bonds instead
of cash deposits while the International Trade Administration (ITA) conducts a review
of the “new shipper.”
Legislation was approved in the 109th Congress to suspend the new shipper bonding
privilege from April 1, 2006, to June 30, 2009 (sec. 1632 of P.L.109-280). Other bills,
including H.R. 3283 (English, passed House July 27, 2005) and S. 695 (Cochran, passed
Senate by unanimous consent, November 17, 2005) sought to suspend the privilege.
H.R. 3306 (Rangel) proposed to strike it entirely.
Background
U.S. antidumping (AD) laws (19 U.S.C. 1673 et seq.) authorize the imposition of
remedial duties if (1) the International Trade Administration (ITA) of the Department of
Commerce determines that foreign merchandise is being, or likely to be sold in the United
States at less than fair value, and (2) the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC)
determines that an industry in the United States is materially injured or threatened with
material injury, or that the establishment of an industry is materially retarded, due to
imports of that merchandise. A similar statute (19 U.S.C. 1671 et seq.) authorizes the
imposition of countervailing duties (CVD) if the ITA finds that the government or any
public entity of a foreign country has provided a subsidy on the manufacture, production,
or export of the merchandise, and the ITC determines injury. These laws are part of a
larger body of statutes also known as trade remedies. In the United States, AD and CVD
actions represent the vast majority of activity under the trade remedy laws.
Duty collections resulting from AD and CVD actions are currently distributed
pursuant to the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (CDSOA), more commonly
known as the “Byrd Amendment.” This law provided for the distribution of import duties
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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collected as a result of AD or CV duty orders to petitioners and other interested parties
who supported the investigations that resulted in the orders. CDSOA disbursements
amounted to $284 million in FY2004 and $226.1 million in FY2005. Although the
CDSOA was repealed in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (P. L. 109-171), the repeal
language specified that disbursement of duties will continue, as if the law had not been
repealed, for all entries of goods prior to October 1, 2007.1
“New Shipper” Reviews
In the course of an AD or CVD investigation by the ITA, the agency generally
determines a weighted average dumping margin or subsidy rate for each exporter or
producer of the targeted merchandise that was investigated individually during the period
of investigation (POI), and an estimated (generally higher) “all-others rate” for all those
not individually investigated.2 These are the duty rates assessed if the investigation
results in final affirmative determinations by the ITA and ITC, and an AD or CV duty
order is subsequently issued.
Since exporters who are individually investigated are likely to receive significantly
lower rates than the “all-others rate,” it is often in the interest of an exporter to request
an investigation in order to receive the separate rate. After the conclusion of an AD or
CVD proceeding, if the ITA receives requests from an exporter or producer who (1) did
not export the subject merchandise during the initial POI; and (2) is not affiliated with
any producer or exporter who exported the merchandise, it must conduct a review to
establish an individual AD or CV duty rate for the exporter.3 This type of review,
commonly known as a “new shipper review,” may take from 270 to 450 days to complete,
depending on complexity.4
A firm from a non-market economy (NME) country, such as China, must also
demonstrate the absence of de jure and de facto government control over its export
activities in order to be assigned a separate rate in AD investigation; similar restrictions
apply to new shippers from NME countries.5
1 19 U.S.C. 1675c, repealed by section 7601 of P.L. 109-171. See CRS Report RL33045, The
Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset (“Byrd Amendment”), by Jeanne J. Grimmett and Vivian
C. Jones.
2 19 U.S.C. 1673d(c)(1)(B); 19 U.S.C. 1671d(c)(1)(B). The ITA can also determine instead a
single estimated country-wide subsidy rate if it determines that it is not practicable to determine
individual rates. See 19 U.S.C. 1671d(c)(1)(B)(i)(II); 19 U.S.C. 1677f-1(e)(2)(B).
3 19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(2)(B).
4 19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(2)(B)(iv).
5 China was first determined a nonmarket economy country for purposes of AD investigations
in Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less than Fair Value, Greige Polyester Cotton Print
Cloth from China (48 F.R. 9897 (1983)). Any such determination remains in effect until revoked
by the ITA (19 U.S.C.1677(18)(C)(i)). Regarding applicability to new shipper reviews, see 19
C.F.R. 351.214(b)(2)(iii)(B), and, e.g., Notice of Preliminary Results of New Shipper Review:
Honey from the People’s Republic of China, 68 F.R. 33099.

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Prior to the suspension of the new shipper bonding privilege, any importer
purchasing from the new shipper undergoing investigation received the right, at its
option, to post a bond or security (in lieu of a cash deposit) to cover the additional AD
or CV duties to be assessed at the completion of the review.6 When the final results of
the new shipper review are published and the exporter is assigned an individual duty rate,
the ITA instructed U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to terminate the bonding
privilege and to collect cash deposits of the estimated AD/CV duties on all future entries
of the targeted merchandise at the shipper-specific rate determined (or “all others” rate,
if applicable) during the review. In addition, the CBP is instructed to liquidate all subject
merchandise reviewed during the investigation at the final assessment rate, and to
determine and collect the final duties to be assessed on any other subject merchandise that
entered while the review was ongoing.7
Duty Collection Issues
CBP has reportedly had considerable difficulty collecting the actual amount of AD
and CV duties owed on subject merchandise. This problem received special attention
beginning in 2001, the first year in which U.S. industries were eligible to receive
disbursements under the CDSOA. According to CBP records, these uncollected duties
amounted to about $130 million in FY2003 and $260 million in FY2004. For example,
Louisiana crawfish producers estimated, and CBP’s annual disbursement reports later
confirmed, that between 2002 and 2004, CBP collected only $25.5 million of about
$195.5 million in AD duties owed on crawfish, with about 90 percent of the duties owed
on merchandise imported from China.8
Any shortfall in collections of AD or CV duties affects U.S. producers of the subject
merchandise in two ways: (1) the protection afforded by the AD or CV action, intended
to assist the domestic industry to compete against unfairly traded, lower-priced goods, is
diminished; and (2) domestic producers are not able to collect all of the duties available
to them under the CDSOA.
Alleged Abuse of New Shipper Rules
Many U.S. producers of goods subject to AD or CVD orders cited the new shipper
bonding privilege as one of the ways that importers circumvent duty orders. Several
methods are reportedly used. For example, some exporters subject to high AD duty rates
have reportedly set up “shell” companies in the source country to act as new shippers.
Other shell companies may be set up in the United States to act as the importer of record,
6 19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(2)(B)(iii).
7 Department of Commerce. International Trade Administration. Import Administration Policy
Bulletin. Application of the Interest Provision in Section 778(a) of the Tariff Act to Entries Made
Pursuant to a Subsequently Rescinded New Shipper Bonding Privilege. Policy Bulletin No. 03.3,
August 26, 2003. [http://www.ita.doc.gov].
8 Prior to FY2001, all AD and CV duties were deposited in the general fund of the U.S. Treasury.
CBP has included a listing of all uncollected duty amounts by case number in its CDSOA annual
report since FY2003. See [http://www.customs.gov/].

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or arrangements may be made with other collusive importers. These “new shippers” then
send a few shipments of the goods to the importer at a “fair” price and subsequently
request that the ITA undertake a new shipper review of its export sales price.9 While the
new shipper review is underway, the importer posts a bond — generally for much less
than the AD duty amount that will be assessed at the end of the investigation.10
Administrative authorities sometimes discover this or other types of fraudulent
arrangements in the course of the new shipper review. If not discovered, however, the
“new entity” may receive a very low dumping margin and continue to supply the market
with the original shipper’s merchandise at a much lower rate than previously assigned.
Even if the arrangement is discovered, the receiving company may have succeeded in
importing unlimited quantities of the subject merchandise for many months.11 In
addition, since the time between the entry and final liquidation of the subject merchandise
is often more than a year, the shipper under investigation, the importer, or both, may have
gone out of business or declared bankruptcy by the time that the final rate of duty is
established. Therefore, in many cases, the higher duties owed are uncollected.
ITA and CBP Efforts
The ITA and CBP have both made significant policy changes in an effort to restrict
abuses of the new shipper bonding privilege and other forms of duty circumvention. In
procedures implemented in October 2002, the ITA began requiring additional
certifications and qualifying paperwork from all exporters requesting new shipper reviews
in order to (1) ensure that these exporters actually meet all regulatory requirements and
(2) limit the application of the bonding privilege so that the new shipper under review
could not become a conduit for exports from producers not involved in the review.12

In response to complaints on the part of some interested parties that the bond
amounts established were not sufficient to cover the AD duties likely to be owed, CBP
amended its guidelines in July 2004.13 Specifically, CBP now requires that continuous
bond amounts for all importers of certain “special categories” of merchandise subject to
AD or CV duty orders (currently only frozen warmwater shrimp), be increased to the ITA
rate established on the final AD or CV order (new shippers are assessed at the “all others”
9 U.S. Congress. House. Committee on Ways and Means. Hearing. “United States-China
Relations and China’s Role in the Global Economy.” October 30-31, 2003. Statement of the
Customs Bond Committee of the American Surety Association (ASA).
10 WTO, Negotiating Group on Rules, United States. “New Shipper Reviews (ADA Article 9.5),”
July 14, 2004. No. TN/RL/GEN/11.
11 Ibid., p. 2.
12 The ITA began requiring these additional certifications in Preserved Mushrooms from
Indonesia: Initiation of New Shipper Antidumping Duty Review, 67 FR 62437. For further
clarification, see U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, Import
Administration Policy Bulletin No. 03.2 of March 4, 2003, Combination Rates in New Shipper
Reviews. [http://www.ita.doc.gov].
13 U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Amended Customs Directive 99-3510-004, July 9, 2004.
The minimum bond amount was previously 10% of the duties, taxes, and fees paid by the
importer during the previous year.

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rate), multiplied by the value of the importer’s entries of the subject merchandise in the
previous 12-month period. For example, if an importer has imported subject merchandise
with a value of $1 million during the previous 12 months, and the ITA rate is 40 percent,
the importer’s continuous bond amount will be increased by $400,000.14 Continuous
bonds must be posted in addition to any regular duties, single-entry bonds, or cash
deposits required to cover each entry of the merchandise. Bond amounts will also be
periodically reviewed to monitor whether the bonds are sufficient, and rates may be
adjusted as circumstances warrant.15

On April 24, 2006, Thailand requested dispute settlement consultations with the
United States in the World Trade Organization (WTO) relating to certain AD procedures,
including CBP’s continuous bond requirement, on warmwater shrimp.16 India, Japan,
Brazil, and China requested to join the consultations in early May 2006. In early June
2006, India also requested consultations on the requirement. In late September 2006, the
United States blocked Thailand’s first attempt to convene a WTO dispute settlement
panel on the issue, calling the request for a panel “premature.”17 Meanwhile, the office
of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has reportedly been putting pressure on CBP
to change the policy due to concerns that a WTO challenge could be successful.18
Legislation
Domestic interested parties called on Congress to deal with the “new shippers” duty
collection issue, and several bills were introduced in the 109th Congress to address the
“loophole.” Section 4 of H.R. 3283, the United States Trade Rights Enforcement Act
(English, introduced July 14, 2005, passed House July 27, 2005) and its companion bill
S. 1421 (Collins, introduced July 19, 2005) sought to suspend the new shipper bonding
privilege for three years. The legislation also would have required administration
officials to make recommendations to Congress regarding the extension of the
suspension, and to report on the effectiveness of previous administrative measures in
addressing the difficulties that led to the suspension of the privilege. S. 695 (Cochran,
passed the Senate by unanimous consent on November 17, 2005) and its companion bill
H.R. 1039 (Pickering, introduced March 11, 2005) sought to suspend the privilege for a
similar time period. S. 2467 (Grassley, introduced March 28, 2006), among other things,
14 Ibid. See also U.S. Customs and Border Protection, “Amendment to Bond Directive
Clarification of July 9, 2004 Amended Monetary Guidelines for Special Categories of
Merchandise Subject to Antidumping and/or Countervailing Duty Cases,” issued August 10,
2005. Bonds for exporters with no prior history of imports (e.g., new shippers) will be assessed
on the basis of the ITA deposit rate in effect on the date of entry, multiplied by the estimated
annual import value of the subject goods.
15 Customs Directive 99-3510-004.
16 World Trade Organization. United States — Antidumping Measures on Shrimp from Thailand.
April 27, 2006, WT/DS343/1.
17 “U.S. Blocks First Thailand Shrimp Panel Request at WTO,” Inside U.S. Trade, October 6,
2006.
18 “USTR Steps Up Fight Against CBP Bonding Rules Under Threat of WTO Case,” Inside U.S.
Trade, June 16, 2006.

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also sought to suspend the privilege. Section 7 of H.R. 3306, the Fair Trade with China
Act of 2005 (Rangel, introduced July 14, 2005), sought to strike the new shipper bonding
privilege entirely.
On July 28, 2006, a number of trade provisions, including a measure suspending the
new shipper bonding privilege, were inserted into pension legislation before the House.
H.R. 4 (Boehner), the Pension Protection Act of 2006, passed the House on the same date
by a vote of 279-131. The bill was subsequently received in the Senate, and passed on
August 3 by a vote of 93-5. On August 17, the President signed the bill (which became
P.L. 109-280).
The “new shipper” measure included in P. L. 109-280 suspends the availability of
bonds to importers from new shippers from April 1, 2006 to June 30, 2009.19 The law
further requires the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of
Commerce, the U.S. Trade Representative, and the Secretary of Homeland Security to
report to Congress on the effectiveness and trade-related impact of the suspension and
to make recommendations on its extension no later than December 31, 2008. The same
officials are also required to report on previous duty collection issues during the “4 most
recent fiscal years for which data are available; including any fraudulent activity intended
to avoid payment of duties” within 180 days of enactment.20
Conclusion
On August 18, 2006, CBP implemented the suspension, thus requiring importers
receiving merchandise from new shippers to post cash deposits of estimated AD and CV
duties on each entry of the targeted merchandise.21 Its implementation may improve the
effectiveness of AD and CV duty collections by reducing fraudulent activity. However,
it may also make importing the targeted merchandise less attractive, thus leading to the
collection of lower duty amounts in any case. Therefore, if domestic manufacturers are
interested in more effective collection of duties so that they will receive higher CDSOA
disbursements, suspension of the new shipper bonding privilege may frustrate that
purpose. However, if producers and other interested parties seek the optimal protection
afforded by AD and CVD actions, (e.g., the ability to compete with the imported subject
merchandise due to fair pricing of the imports), requiring cash deposits may be an
effective approach.
19 The suspension does not apply to Mexico or Canada because the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) specifies that any amendments to AD or CVD laws apply to NAFTA
countries only “to the extent specified in the amendment.” See 19 U.S.C. 3438.
20 P. L. 109-280, sec. 1632(b) and (c).
21 U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Notice to Directors of Field Operations and Port
Directors. “Suspension of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Bonding Privilege from
04/01/2006 to 6/30/2009,” August 18, 2006.

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