The US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced that it has published a final regulation for imposing countervailing duties on products that benefit from unfair currency subsidies which, in turn, cause harm to domestic industries.
US law defines a countervailable subsidy as a financial contribution from a government or public entity that is specific and that provides a benefit to a foreign producer or exporter. The final regulation identifies the criteria the Department would use to determine if countervailing duties should be imposed for subsidies in the form of currency undervaluation that results from government action on the exchange rate during the relevant period. In assessing whether there has been such government action, the DOC will not normally include monetary and related credit policy of an independent central bank or monetary authority. The DOC will seek and generally defer to Treasury’s expertise in currency matters.
In May 2019, the DOC published a proposed version of this currency regulation. After its publication, the DOC received dozens of public comments that helped to inform the final rule regarding the issue of subsidies resulting from currency undervaluation.
In total, the DOC currently maintains 516 antidumping and countervailing duty orders, which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.