A Letter From Biscayne Hospitality
Dear Valued Customer,
As you may be aware from current events, there is an impending trade war between the US and China, which will change the economic landscape for many industries. The US government has imposed trade tariffs for many Chinese products, and Quartz Surface Products are next on the list. On May 14, 2018, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) has initiated an anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigation and has announced preliminary duties to be levied on Quartz Surface Products from China. Based on early case estimation, the duty rate could be exceptionally high, possibly in an excess of 300%+. If the ruling of this investigation is unfavorable, the whole quartz industry will be facing an uncertain future.
According to our research, any Chinese quartz imports arriving after September 14, 2018 will be subject to a CVD rate and any Chinese quartz imports arriving after November 13, 2018 will be subject to an additional AD duty rate. Additionally, a special US trade law called “Critical Circumstance” will allow AD duties to be levied retrospectively back for 90 days from the November start date. This means the AD duty can be levied back to any Chinese quartz imports arriving after August 15, 2018. In recent similar cases, anti-dumping duties have been levied retrospectively to 90 days. These DOC rulings will profoundly and materially change the market conditions, and will make Chinese quartz an unaffordable choice for commercial projects.
Fortunately, Biscayne Hospitality manufactures a majority of products in Indonesia, Phillippines, Mexico and USA. However, all quartz and stone that is shipped separately comes from China. No party could have reasonably predicted such a drastic increase in cost for importing quartz countertops from initial bids to executed Purchase Orders.
Biscayne Hospitality will monitor the situation closely and work on a case by case basis on any negative impact on cost for existing inbound products with quartz.
Best Regards,
Javed Bhaghani
PRESIDENT
T 858-674-4003
F 858-674-4255
