Deadlines for Investigations
After CBP receives a properly filed allegation from an interested party, it has 15 business days to determine whether to initiate an EAPA investigation. If CBP determines that it will not, the interested party will be notified within five business days of that determination. Below is a timeline for an investigation:
| Day | Event |
|---|---|
| 0 days1 | Initiation of the investigation2 |
| No later than 90 calendar days | Determination of reasonable suspicion of evasion and issuance of interim measures |
| 5 business days after interim measures are taken | Notice of decision to initiate an investigation and whether interim measures were taken |
| 200 calendar days | Deadline to voluntarily submit factual information3 |
| 230 calendar days | Deadline to submit written arguments |
| 15 calendar days after a written argument was filed | Deadline to submit responses to the written argument |
| No later than 300 calendar days | Determination as to evasion or notice of extension of time |
| No later than 360 calendar days | Determination as to evasion if the investigation is extraordinarily complicated |
| 5 business days after determination | Notice of CBP’s determination as to evasion |
1 CBP may submit a referral to the Department of Commerce (Commerce) if at any point after the receipt of the allegation CBP cannot determine whether the entered merchandise described in the allegation is properly within the scope of an antidumping or countervailing duty order. CBP will promptly notify the parties to the investigation of the date of the referral. The time required for any referral and determination by Commerce will not be counted toward CBP’s deadlines. CBP will notify the parties to the investigation of Commerce’s decision. Deadlines and notice requirements listed apply only to parties to the investigation.
2 If CBP consolidates allegations into a single investigation, the date on which CBP receives the first of such allegations will start the time period for the deadline to initiate the investigation. CBP will issue notice of consolidation to all parties to the investigation if consolidation occurs after they have already been notified of the ongoing investigation. Otherwise, parties will be notified no later than 95 calendar days after the date of the initiation. Any interested party who filed an allegation after initiation will be notified by CBP of the date of decision to initiate when it receives the notice of consolidation.
3 Parties to the investigation will have ten calendar days to provide rebuttal information to new factual information placed on the record by CBP and to voluntary submissions of factual information made by a party to the investigation and placed on the record.
Deadlines for Administrative Reviews
A party to an EAPA investigation that has received an adverse determination from CBP may file a request for an administrative review. The request for an administrative review must be submitted to CBP no later than 30 business days after the initial determination as to evasion. Each party that files a request for review must provide the other parties to the EAPA investigation with a public version of the request. Upon receipt of a timely request for review, CBP will ensure that it has been properly filed, and if so, will assign a case number for tracking. The administrative review period starts on the date when CBP accepts the last properly filed request and electronically transmits the case number to all parties to the investigation. Below is a timeline for an administrative review:
| Day | Event |
|---|---|
| 0 days | Initiation of the administrative review and transmission of the case tracking number |
| 10 business days | Deadline to submit written responses to the request(s) for review |
| 60 business days | Completion of the administrative review |
This information is provided solely for your guidance and it does not replace or supersede the law or regulations for EAPA proceedings.