The Supreme Court on May 19 decided not to hear a challenge to CBP’s reliance on its internal footwear definitions document in a tariff classification case on Deckers’ Outdoor Corporation’s Uggs boots. The denial of certiorari will allow to stand a Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruling in May 9 that partially relied on CBP’s internal definition to classify Uggs as slip-on footwear (see 13050901). Deckers’ had argued that, if allowed to stand, reliance on unsupported administrative “fiat” statements would put importers in a difficult position in tariff classification disputes (see 14011415).
Appeals Court Says FCPA Applies to State-Owned Companies, Sets New Definition for 'Foreign Official'
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit recently issued an opinion that for the first time delineated the application of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to state-owned companies. The Appeals Court on May 16 found that bribing officials at foreign companies is illegal and punishable under FCPA, so long as the concern is controlled by the foreign government and performs a function it treats as its own, and upheld the lengthy prison sentences of two Florida men for bribing officials at a Haitian company.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website May 19, 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 European Union announced on May 16 that it signed a mutual recognition agreement with China on trusted trader programs. Under the agreement, the EU and China will recognize each other’s trusted traders, “thereby allowing these companies to benefit from faster controls and reduced administration for customs clearance,” said the European Commission. The EU is the first trading partner to enter into such an agreement with China, it said. The agreement makes the EU trusted trader system the most widely accepted in the world, with the EU already having signed mutual recognition agreements with Japan in 2011 and the U.S. in 2012, said the European Commission.
The International Trade Commission is asking for comments by June 24 on the economic impact of the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA) on U.S. industries and consumers, as well as on the effectiveness of the ATPA in promoting drug related crop eradication and crop substitution efforts by beneficiary countries. The ITC’s biennial report is scheduled to be transmitted to Congress by Sept. 30.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the May 19 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 May 19 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):
Entries of laminated woven sacks from China made from third-country fabric and entered before March 18, 2011 will be liquidated without paying antidumping duties, said the Commerce Department as it implemented a 2013 court ruling. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had ruled in December that Commerce in an 2011 administrative review illegally ordered a retroactive suspension of liquidation when it told CBP to “continue” to suspend liquidation of 2008-11 entries made from third-country fabric (see 13121321). Commerce’s “country of origin determination” was in effect a scope ruling, said CAFC, and scope rulings only affect entries after the date they are issued. Commerce now says laminated woven sacks produced from third-country fabric are only liable for AD duties if they are entered on or after March 18, 2011, the date Commerce issued the final results of its administrative review. The agency is directing CBP to liquidate entries made before that date without regard to AD duties.
The Commerce Department issued the preliminary results of its antidumping duty new shipper review on fresh garlic from China (A-570-831) for Jinxiang Merry Vegetable Co., Ltd. and Cangshan Qingshui Vegetable Foods Co., Ltd.. The agency calculated a preliminary AD rate of $3.33 for merchandise produced and exported by Merry, and a preliminary AD rate of $3.06/kg for merchandise produced and exported by Qingshi.
The Commerce Department will soon begin requiring antidumping duty cash deposits on imports of non-oriented electrical steel (NOES) from China, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Sweden and Taiwan, it said in a fact sheet May 16. In its preliminary determination, the agency found AD duty rates of 407.52% for China; 86.29-98.84% for Germany; 135.59-204.79% for Japan; 6.91% for South Korea; 98.46-126.72% for Sweden; and 28.14-52.23% for Taiwan.