The Commerce Department issued the preliminary results of its antidumping duty administrative review on steel nails from the United Arab Emirates (A-520-804). The agency preliminarily assigned Precision Fasteners a high 184.41% penalty rate because of the company's alleged noncooperation. If these preliminary results are confirmed in the final results, all entries of subject merchandise between Nov. 3, 2011 and April 30, 2013 produced or exported by Precision Fasteners will be assessed AD duties at that rate.
The Commerce Department is delaying its decision on whether to conduct antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on passenger vehicle and light truck tires from China (A-570-016/C-570-017) in order to make sure the duties are supported by the U.S. tire industry. The United Steelworkers (USW) union requested the duties on June 3, and Commerce’s decision on whether the petition met industry support requirements was due June 23 (see 14060402). Commerce is extending that deadline until July 14 so it can poll domestic industry.
The Commerce Department issued the final results of the antidumping duty administrative review on diamond sawblades and parts thereof from China (A-570-900). These final results will be used to set final assessments of AD duties on importers for entries between Nov. 1, 2011 and Oct. 31, 2012. New AD duty cash deposit rates set in this review will take effect June 24.
The Commerce Department issued antidumping duty orders on prestressed concrete steel rail tie wire from Mexico (A-201-843) and China (A-570-990). The order details a "gap period" of June 11-22 of no AD duty liability due to the expiration of the "provisional measures" period.
Product safety regulators in the U.S., European Union and China pledged to continue to implement “seamless surveillance” in product supply chains by increasing cooperation between them, they said in a statement released after the Fourth Biennial Consumer Product Safety Trilateral Summit on June 19. They said they would enhance information sharing between the agencies, which include the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Health and Consumers Directorate General of the European Commission, and General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China. They also said they would continue to reinforce traceability in consumer product supply chains; further engage with stakeholders; and explore ways to harmonize product safety regulations. The next trilateral summit will be held in 2016.
On June 20 the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:
The Food and Drug Administration is allowing more time for comments on its proposal to extend its current restrictions on cigarettes and smokeless tobacco so they also apply to electronic “e-cigarettes,” cigars, pipe tobacco, nicotine gels, hookah tobacco, and nicotine dissolvables. The proposed rule issued by FDA in April would set requirements for registration, FDA review, and health warning labels on e-cigarettes and other tobacco products (see 14042426). Comments are now due Aug. 8.
On June 20 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes June 20 to 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 back-and-forth between domestic petitioners and the Commerce Department during antidumping and countervailing duty investigations is an important factor in deciding whether products are included within the scope of duties, said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on June 20 as it reversed a lower court ruling. The Court of International Trade had in 2013 found Fedmet’s magnesium alumina carbon bricks (MACBs) to be covered by AD and CV duties on magnesia carbon bricks from China, along the way affirming Commerce’s determination that the scope itself was ambiguous. But according to CAFC, communications between Commerce and Resco Products, the domestic company that had originally requested the duties, resolved all ambiguity in favor of excluding MACBs from the scope.