Mexico's Diario Oficial of April 25, 2012, lists notices from the Secretary of the Economy as follows:
China's rare earth industry regulations are designed to protect the environment and sustain growth, said Zhu Hongren of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, according to a report by the official news agency Xinhua. Xinhua said Hongren pledged to actively respond to a request for consultations by the U.S., Japan, and the European Union at the World Trade Organization, and asserted that China’s measures to regulate its rare earth industry, including production caps, export quota cuts and stricter emission standards, are in line with WTO rules.
The Census Bureau announced that preliminary March steel imports were $3 billion (2.6 million metric tons compared to the preliminary February totals of $2.8 billion (2.4 million metric tons). According to Census, the March change in steel imports based on metric tonnage reflected an increase primarily in blooms, billets and slabs. An increase occurred primarily with Mexico; a decrease occurred primarily with India.
The International Trade Commission is publishing notices in the April 24, 2012, Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent, and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will appear in another ITT article):
The U.S. said it was deeply troubled by what it described as lack of due process in China’s antidumping actions, and in particular the imposition last December of AD measures on imports of some $3 billion worth of U.S. automobiles, at a meeting of the World Trade Organization’s Meeting on Anti-Dumping Practices on April 23. The U.S. also said it was concerned on Mexican AD rate calculations, while Japan questioned 4 U.S. AD measures on Japanese products.
On April 24, 2012, the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Food Safety and Inspection Service said the Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) is meeting April 23-28 in Shanghai. The Committee is considering proposed maximum residue limits, revision of the Codex Classification, etc. Details follow:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued emails April 24, 2012, announcing changes to some Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) electronic manuals. While some changes are minor, other changes may affect the admissibility of the plant products, including fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
The nation's fourth case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) (aka Mad Cow disease) has been confirmed in a dairy cow from central California, announced the Department of Agriculture. According to USDA, the carcass of the animal is being held under State authority at a rendering facility in California and will be destroyed. USDA says that the cow was never presented for slaughter for human consumption, so at no time presented a risk to the food supply or human health.
In a challenge of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) classification of “boots [that] can be pulled on with the hands, and that…extend above the ankle” as "slip-on footwear," brought by plaintiff Deckers Outdoor Corp., the Court of International Trade ruled in favor of CBP. CBP originally classified the entries under HTS No. 6404.19.35, which includes “[non-sports] footwear [with outer soles of rubber or plastics] of the slip-on type, that is held to the foot without the use of laces or buckles or other fasteners,” dutiable at 37.5% ad valorem.