On Aug. 25 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
Russia’s ban on imports of food and agricultural products from countries that have imposed sanctions will have an impact on U.S. seafood exports, and particularly on exports of frozen salmon roe, said the Department of Agriculture in a Global Agricultural Information Network report issued Aug. 22. U.S. seafood comprises 3 percent of all Russian seafood imports, it said. Having banned imports of certain seafood from the U.S., Canada, European Union, Australia, and Norway, Russia will now turn to its own far east, as well as China, Chile, Ecuador, and the Faeroe Islands to fill the gap. But making up for the lost imports will be difficult, and Russian consumers should see prices rise 20-30 percent in the near term, said the report.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Aug. 18-24:
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website Aug. 25, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at http://adcvd.cbp.dhs.gov/adcvdweb.
The saga of Coach’s trademark infringement lawsuit against Celco Customs Services has come to an end, with the California-based former customs brokerage withdrawing its appeal on Aug. 11 after settling the case for $8 million in late July. Despite Celco continuing the fight for over a year, the settlement equals the amount awarded by a Central California U.S. District Court jury in April 2013. Celco had argued that brokers can't be liable for trademark infringement because they aren't in a position to know the contents of a shipment. But District Judge Margaret Morrow ruled that Celco could be held responsible because it ignored several red flags related to the power of attorney associated with the importer of the infringing goods.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration issued a proposed rule on Aug. 25 to harmonize the hazardous materials (hazmat) regulations with international agreements. The proposal would implement recent changes to the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code, the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air, and the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods—Model Regulations. The changes affect proper shipping names, hazard classes, packing groups, special provisions, packaging authorizations, air transport quantity limitations, and vessel stowage requirements, said the PHMSA. Comments are due Oct. 24.
The International Trade Commission on Aug. 21 began the process for implementing changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule to reflect the new version of the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System that takes effect in 2017. The WCO announced the amendments to its international tariff schedule in July (see 14073002 and 14073101). Beyond the WCO-recommended changes, the ITC will also consider (1) whether to delete a duplicate subheading for taro in HTS Chapter 7; and (2) a change to the current classification for corned beef so that it is classified with other cured meats, it said in a Federal Register notice (here). The ITC will issue recommended changes to the HTS in December, and will ask for public comments at that time. The ITC’s final report is due in July 2015.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the Aug. 25 Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent, and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will be in another ITT article):
The Commerce Department published notices in the Aug. 25 Federal Register on the following AD/CV duty proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The Commerce Department will end its antidumping duty investigations on oil country tubular goods from the Philippines and Thailand and refund any cash deposits collected, after the International Trade Commission on Aug. 22 voted that imports of OCTG from the two countries are not injuring U.S. industry. The ITC also found imports of OCTG from five other countries -- India, South Korea, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam -- are injuring or threaten to injure U.S industry, so Commerce will issue AD duty orders on OCTG from all five countries and CV duty orders on OCTG from India and Turkey. Once Commerce issues its AD/CV duty orders, Commerce will begin conducting annual administrative reviews to determine final assessments of AD and CV duties on importers, as well as five-year “sunset” reviews to decide whether U.S. industry is still injured and duties should continue.