Pragmatus filed a petition for Section 337 investigation June 27, seeking to bar imports of cellphones and tablets from Pantech. The patents at issue are related to a personal security and tracking system that relays information on the device’s location. According to Pragmatus, a patent licensing company based in Alexandria, Va., Pantech is importing infringing wireless devices from South Korea. Pragmatus is seeking cease and desist and limited exclusion orders against the allegedly infringing imports.
The International Trade Commission issued a general exclusion order barring all imports of printer toner cartridges that infringe patents held by Canon. The import ban results from a Section 337 investigation on the imports that began in February 2012. The President now has 60 days to review the import ban, during which time he may veto the order. During that period, importers must pay a 100 percent bond on any imported toner cartridges that are subject to the general exclusion order.
The Commerce Department published notices in the July 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):
The Commerce Department initiated two antidumping duty new shipper reviews on fresh garlic from China (A-570-831) at the request of Cangshan Qingshui Vegetable Foods Co., Ltd. and Jinxiang Merry Vegetable Co., Ltd., for merchandise each company both produces and exports to the U.S. Commerce will determine Qingshui and Merry are eligible for estimated AD cash deposit rates other than the China-wide entity rate they currently receives.
On July 2 the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:
The City of Fort Wayne, Ind., applied to expand Foreign-Trade Zone 182, according to a Federal Register notice set for publication July 5. If approved, FTZ 182’s service area would expand to cover Blackford, Jay, LaGrange, Randolph, and Steuben Counties. The zone’s service area already includes Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, Noble, Wabash, Wells, and Whitley Counties. Comments on the application are due by Sept. 3.
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board approved the expansion and reorganization under the Alternative Site Framework (ASF) of FTZ 45 in Portland, Ore. The reorganization will expand the FTZ’s service area to cover Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington Counties. ASF streamlines processes for designation of new FTZ subzones and usage driven sites within the larger service area.
The Bureau of Industry and Security made several corrections to its June 5 final rule implementing changes to export controls on chemicals and biological agents agreed to at the Australia Group (see 13060406). The changes affect the rule’s description of the Australia Group amendments (but not the actual regulations) for ECCN 1C351. BIS is also correcting changes it made to the Export Administration Regulations for ECCN 2B352.
The Court of International Trade sustained the rescission of a new shipper review on uncovered innerspring units from China (A-570-928), finding reasonable Commerce’s decision to end the review, and keep Foshan Nanhai Jiujiang Quan Li Spring Hardware Factory and Foshan Yongnuo Import & Export subject to the China-wide rate. The companies had requested the new shipper review in an attempt to get their own lower separate rate. Commerce had said the sale up for review was too small and expensive to be a normal commercial sale. It also said the importer couldn’t get its story straight on the circumstances of the sale. Foshan challenged the quantity and value comparisons the agency used to find the sale abnormal, and put forward its own theory on what the importer was trying to say. But CIT said Commerce’s determination was reasonable, and supported by evidence.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website July 2, 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.)