The Commerce Department published notices in the July 16 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):
The Commerce Department told CBP to lift suspension of liquidation for countervailing duty purposes on entries of hardwood plywood from China (C-570-987), in a message dated July 15. The lifting of suspension of liquidation is effective back to July 12, so entries on or after that date aren’t subject to CV duty liability until further notice (like an eventual CV duty order). The move comes as a result of the end of the “provisional measures” period in the ongoing countervailing duty investigation. Commerce is only allowed to suspend liquidation of entries subject to an investigation for four months after the preliminary determination. It can then suspend liquidation again if the International Trade Commission finds injury and Commerce puts an AD/CVD order in place.
The Commerce Department finalized its regulation on certification of factual information in antidumping and countervailing duty cases, in a final rule set for publication July 17. The rule makes several changes from the February 2011 interim final rule that first imposed the strengthened certifications (see 11021027), including creating a separate certification for foreign governments. The new certification regulations will apply to AD/CV duty investigations based on petitions filed on or after Aug. 16, as well as other types of AD/CV duty proceedings initiated on or after that date.
The Commerce Department retroactively suspended liquidation for entries of AREMA lock washers imported by United Steel and Fasteners (US&F), after finding the product is subject to the antidumping duty order on helical spring lock washers from China (A-570-822) in a July 10 final scope ruling. US&F’s argued that Commerce can’t suspend liquidation for entries made prior to the initiation date of a scope inquiry, citing the Court of International Trade’s December 2012 decision in AMSAssociates v. U.S. to bolster its position. But Commerce said the circumstances of US&F’s scope inquiry are different, and in any case the AMS case is still under appeal, and isn’t settled.
On July 15 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 will reinstate the right of Anneri and Yuri Izurieta to import food, withdrawing two debarment orders in response to a February 2013 court decision overturning criminal penalties against the two Florida residents. The two had been barred from importing for 30 and 20 years, respectively, after the Southern Florida U.S. District Court found them guilty of criminal charges related to their failure to redeliver tainted food (see 12012706). But the U.S.11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the conviction in February, saying that 19 CFR 141.113 redelivery violations aren’t subject to criminal penalties (see 13022503 and 13030718). FDA said it is withdrawing its debarments (here) and (here) because the court order vacating the criminal charges removed the basis for the prohibitions.
On July 15, the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Foreign Agricultural Service amended the availability credit guarantees for sales of U.S. agricultural commodities under the Commodity Credit Corporation's Export Credit Guarantee Program (GSM-102) for fiscal year 2013, for the following countries/regions:
Missouri-based importer GuildMaster pleaded guilty July 15 in the Western Missouri U.S. District Court to trafficking in goods with counterfeit marks, after importing thousands of lamps from a manufacturer in China that bore fake safety certification labels. GuildMaster said it wasn’t directly involved, admitting only that its wholly-owned subsidiary was aware of the scheme. The company will be placed on five years of probation and will forfeit the seized lamps. CBP won’t seek penalties, but will lay claim to a $43,786 bond to cover its expenses.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website July 15, 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.)