The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for July 25:
The International Trade Administration extended the deadline to Aug. 1 for nominees to its recently reestablished Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee. The deadline was originally July 16.
The Agricultural Marketing Service released the “Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report” for the week of July 25-31. The weekly report contains data on container availability for westbound transpacific traffic at 18 intermodal locations in the U.S.1 from the 10 member carriers of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (WTSA)2. Although the report is compiled by AMS, it covers container availability for all merchandise, not just agricultural products.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a notice amending the Export Administration Regulations at 15 CFR Part 774 Supplement No. 1 (the Commerce Control List) to correct 10 ECCNs. Changes are as follows:
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the International Trade Administration posted to CBP's website as of July 24, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching on the listed CBP message number at http://addcvd.cbp.gov. (CBP occasionally adds backdated messages without otherwise indicating which message was added. ITT will include a message date in parentheses in such cases.)
The World Trade Organization established a dispute settlement panel at the request of the U.S., Japan and the European Union to consider China’s export restraints on rare earths, tungsten and molybdenum at a July 23 meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body. China had blocked an earlier U.S.-Japan-EU panel request at the July 10 meeting. In requesting the panel, the U.S. said the export restraints at issue include export quotas, export duties, various restrictions on the right to export and administrative requirements that limit China’s exports of these materials by increasing the burden and costs for exporting. Also at the meeting, India requested for the first time the establishment of a panel to consider countervailing measures applied by the U.S. on certain hot-rolled carbon steel products from India.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) announced it will hold four meetings in Washington, DC, on Aug. 1-2, Sept. 12-13, Oct. 11-12, and Oct. 23-24 to prepare its 2012 Annual Report to Congress, which is due Nov. 14. Topics to be considered include (1) the U.S.-China trade and economic relationship, including its bilateral investment and the role of state-owned enterprises, intellectual property protection and its 5-year plan, technology transfers, and outsourcing; China’s activities directly affecting U.S. national security interests, including its area control military strategy, space developments, and intelligence activities and capabilities; China’s foreign and regional activities and relationships, including those pertaining to Taiwan and Hong Kong; and China’s foreign and national security policies.
President Obama issued Executive Order 13620, which prohibits imports of charcoal from Somalia, effective July 20. According to the Order, exports of charcoal from Somalia generate significant revenue for the militant Islamist group al-Shabaab. The Executive Order also builds on the earlier Executive Order 13536 (“Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in Somalia”, issued on April 12, 2010) by, among other things, authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to block the property of persons who have: (1) committed acts to misappropriate Somali public assets; (2) committed acts of violence against civilians in Somalia; (3) recruited or used children in armed conflict in Somalia; or (4) engaged, directly or indirectly, in the import or export of charcoal from Somalia on or after February 22, 2012.
The International Trade Commission decided to review part of an administrative law judge’s June 2012 initial determination finding violations of certain claims of patents held by Lutron Electronics Co., Inc. in its investigation of certain lighting control devices including dimmer switches and parts thereof (IV) (337-TA-776). The remaining respondents are American Top Electric Corp.; Big Deal Electric Corp.; Zhejiang Lux Electric Co. Ltd.; Zhejiang Yuelong Mechanical and Electrical Co.; Wenzhou Huir Electric Science & Technology Co. Ltd.; Westgate Manufacturing, Inc.; and Elemental LED, LLC d/b/a Diode LED, which have all been found to be in default.
On July 23 the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of: