Court Decision Leads to Change in Cabinet Import Duties from China
Estimated reading time: 5–6 minutes
On June 12, 2025, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) made a final judgment about the countervailing duty investigation into wooden cabinets and vanities from China. This investigation reviewed products made from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2018.
The Department of Commerce found that some Chinese exporters received unfair help, or subsidies, from their government. Because of this, extra import taxes, called countervailing duties, were put on these items in 2020.
Several companies, including The Ancientree Cabinet Co., Ltd. (Ancientree), Dalian Meisen Woodworking Co., Ltd. (Meisen), and a U.S. importer called Cabinets to Go, LLC, disagreed with Commerce’s findings. They took the case to court.
The main problem was about a program called the Export Buyer’s Credit Program (EBCP). The court wanted proof that the companies did not use this program. Commerce tried to get this information from Ancientree, Meisen, and their customers. Meisen did not give the needed information. Ancientree provided some proof, but not for all customers.
After several remand (do-over) decisions, the court told Commerce to calculate new subsidy rates for Ancientree. Commerce was told to only count benefits from the EBCP where they could not prove Ancientree’s customers did not use the support.
Commerce recalculated the rates. For Ancientree, the new subsidy rate is 5.06 percent. The new “all others” rate is 18.17 percent. These are changes from the previous rates based on new evidence and the court’s instructions.
Ancientree has a different cash deposit rate already set by a later review, so this change will not affect Ancientree’s current cash deposit. Commerce will update cash deposit instructions for other companies using the new “all others” rate.
Commerce still cannot liquidate (finalize) the import duties for some entries by Ancientree, Meisen, and other named companies because there are court injunctions in place. These entries will remain on hold while any possible appeals are finished.
This notice was published to follow court requirements. The Department of Commerce is following the law and the court’s direction for how to handle these cabinet imports from China.
Issued by:
Christopher Abbott
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations
Acting for the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance
Date: June 27, 2025
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