Antidumping duty rates are falling to zero for merchandise from 20 companies subject to the AD duty order on diamond sawblades from China (A-570-900), following a correction to the Commerce Department's June 17 final results of 2010-11 administrative review (see 13061421). Commerce's corrected its calculation of Weihai's AD rate, which caused that company's rate to fall to zero. That also resulted in the average AD rate assigned to 17 non-individually reviewed companies falling to zero. Because of the change, period of review entries from all 25 reviewed companies will be liquidated without regard to AD duties, and no cash deposits will be required on entries from these companies until further notice. The new rates are effective June 17, and will be implemented by CBP soon.
Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the following voluntary recalls July 17:
On July 16 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 may block imports from Dominican Republic-based Sabila SRL because of violations of acidified foods and current good manufacturing practice regulations, it said in a July 1 warning letter sent to the company. An FDA inspection in December 2012 found the problems, which include deficient records, poor pest control, and insufficient plumbing, the warning letter said. Because the issues are materially related to food safety, FDA will charge reinspection fees when it goes back to see if the problems have been fixed. The warning letter said the firm should consider informing its U.S. agent of the potential fee liability.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes July 16 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.
A Massachusetts man was charged June 25 in Connecticut U.S. District Court with importing counterfeit semiconductors from China and selling them to defense contractors, according to an indictment unsealed July 15. Peter Picone was charged with conspiring to traffic in counterfeit goods, conspiring to traffic in counterfeit military goods, trafficking in counterfeit goods, conspiring to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and conspiring to commit money laundering. Picone faces up to 20 years in prison for some of the charges.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website July 16, 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.)
In response to several incidents related to the problem, the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration put out a safety alert for shippers and carriers on the risks associated with under-odorization of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). Odorization of LPG is required in certain circumstances, such as non-industrial end use, to allow for leak detection. The alert describes the problem of odors fading over time, and outlines recommended odorization procedures and standards.
The International Trade Commission is publishing notices in the July 16 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 International Trade Commission voted July 11 to begin a Section 337 investigation on whether to ban imports of Sany’s crawler cranes that allegedly infringe patents held by Manitowoc Cranes. The patent at issue relates to “variable position counterweight” technology, which allows the cranes to lift over 2,500 pounds. According to Manitowoc’s June 12 complaint, Sany hired away one of its high-level engineers, who proceeded to share his knowledge with Sany, a Chinese company. Manitowoc is requesting limited exclusion orders and cease and desist orders. The ITC named the following respondents to the investigation: