The original title at stoneupdate.com:Certification Needed for Malaysian Quartz-Surface Imports
Ali quartz notice – Following a federal inquiry into materials that may have been transshipped from China, quartz surfaces from Malaysia now have to adhere to particular certification requirements.
Following its publication in the Federal Register, the International Trade Administration (ITA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) today implemented the new procedure for all quartz surfaces arriving from Malaysia.
The certification procedure covers not just upcoming shipments from the Southeast Asian nation but also an undetermined amount of earlier shipments going all the way back to last November.
The investigation into claims that quartz-surface products were being transported from China to Malaysia and then labeled as being created in Malaysia by the ITA led to the action in March.
A signed declaration that the materials do not contain quartz-slab goods from China must now be provided by the exporting and importing corporations for any quartz surfaces being exported from Malaysia to the United States.
The certification also warns that if such assertions are not supported by evidence, the U.S. International Trade Commission may impose unfair-trade duties of more than 300% on Chinese quartz items in 2018.
Any quartz-surface products that have been transported from Malaysia since last November 4 but have not yet been properly cleared (or “liquidated”) by U.S. Customs and Border Protection are also affected by the ITA judgement. Even if the material has been moved outside of ports-of-entry and utilized in fabrication, the shipments must also adhere to the new certification standards, or they might be subject to the Chinese quartz tariff.
In addition, due to their lack of cooperation during the ITA investigation, nine Malaysian companies will no longer be permitted to export quartz surfaces to the US through the certification process:
Bada Industries SDN BHD (Bada Industries);
Ever Stone World SDN BHD (Ever Stone);
Karina Stone;
MSI Building Supply SDN (MSI);
Principal Safwa (M) SDN (Principal);
Resstone Manufacturing (Resstone);
SCLM Services SDN BHD (SCLM);
Unique Stone SDN BHD (Unique Stone); and
Universal Quartz.
A spokeswoman for Orange, California-based M S International confirmed on Friday that the American business is in no way connected to the Malaysian corporation of the same name.
According to Marty Davis, president and chief executive officer of American quartz-surface maker Cambria, “American quartz manufacturers and their employees gained a victory in 2018 when the AD/CVD duties were levied on illegally subsidized and dumping quartz from China.” “This action paved the way for the opening and growth of American quartz manufacturing facilities; since that time, over $800 million has been invested in new American plants, creating thousands of new employment here.
“But, this Chinese merchandise illegally transshipped through Malaysia puts this and even more future investment in jeopardy.”
Data from Hard-Surface Report shows that from having no quartz surface shipments to the United States in 2018 to having 16.3 million ft2 in 2021. But even before today’s decision, it appears that the ITA inquiry itself slowed down the majority of quartz shipments from Malaysia.
Malaysia shipped 3.7 million square feet of quartz slab to the United States in the first quarter of this year; in the second quarter, that number fell to 1.2 million square feet and is still dropping.
Deliveries of quartz slabs from Malaysia through U.S. ports-of-entry decreased significantly from their peak month of about 1.6 million square feet in March to just over 138,000 square feet in August.