On March 1-3 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for March 4:
The National Marine Fisheries Service is requesting input by May 30 on illegal fishing practices for a report to Congress that could serve as the basis for import restrictions. The agency, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is asking for information on countries whose vessels are engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated (IUU) fishing, bycatch of protected living marine resources, or fishing activities in international waters that target or incidentally catch sharks. The information is compiled into a report to Congress required every two years under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006.
A New York federal court on Feb. 25 found an importer liable for a leak of a corrosive chemical aboard two ships while crossing the Pacific. Carrier APL spent over $5 million cleaning up the 2006 spill aboard two of its ships and at two container terminals at the Port of Los Angeles. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found importer Kemira Water Solutions jointly and severally liable, in part because the company specified the wrong type of packaging in its purchasing agreement.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website March 3, 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 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 Energy Department is proposing to amend its energy efficiency standards for commercial clothes washers. DOE’s March 4 proposed rule would tighten energy use restrictions on top-loading washers, and would also change water use requirements for both top-loading and front-loading washers. The agency says commercial washers meeting the proposed requirements are already on the market. Comments are due by May 5.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the March 3 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 International Trade Commission will review an administrative law judge’s finding that imports of MaxLite compact fluorescent lamps are still entering the U.S. despite an agreement to settle a Section 337 investigation, it said in a March 4 Federal Register notice. The ITC had ended its investigation in 2012, after MaxLite agreed not to import dimmable compact fluorescent lamps that infringe a patent held by Neptun Light. But in a request for an enforcement proceeding in February 2013, Neptun says its lawyer was able to order the allegedly patent-infringing products online well after the consent order was effective (see 13022029). The ITC began a formal enforcement proceeding two months later (see 13042321). Neptun is requesting a permanent cease and desist order, as well as monetary penalties of the greater of the value of the good, or $100,000, for each day the order has been violated.
Bose filed Section 337 complaint on Feb. 26 with the International Trade Commission, alleging Monster is importing “earpiece devices having positioning and retaining structure” in violation of Bose's patents. According to the complaint, Bose's patented in-ear headphone design allows consumers to use headphones during rigorous exercise and other activities that would otherwise cause traditional headphones to fall out of the user's ear canal. Bose is seeking limited exclusion orders and cease and desist orders against Monster and its affiliates banning import and sale in the U.S. of infringing headphones.
The Commerce Department published notices in the March 3 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):