“The port is invoking the full coercive power of the State to impose conditions on motor carriers, and that is exactly what Congress sought to prevent,” said Daniel Lerman, counsel for the American Trucking Associations, in oral arguments before the Supreme Court April 16. In American Trucking Associations v. City of Los Angeles, the ATA is challenging the Port of Los Angeles’ “concession contracts” for licensed motor carriers operating drayage trucks that bring freight in and out of the port.
The Commerce Department published notices in the April 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 preliminarily determined that graphite electrodes with an actual or nominal diameter of 17 inches, produced and/or exported by Jilin Carbon from China to the U.S., is circumventing the antidumping duty order on small diameter graphite electrodes from China (A-570-929). Although the scope of that AD duty order only includes graphite electrodes with a diameter of 16 inches or less, the agency preliminarily found that the 17-inch electrodes are only a “minor alteration,” and so should be included within the scope.
The Commerce Department issued the final results of the countervailing duty administrative review on lined paper products from India (C-533-844) for A.R. Printing and its U.S. importer, Gemstone Printing. These rates are effective April 16, and will be implemented by CBP soon.
The Commerce Department issued a final rule amending its regulations to provide for disciplinary actions against attorney and non-attorney representatives if they have been found to have engaged in misconduct in antidumping or countervailing duty proceedings. The rule makes no changes from a June 2012 proposal (see 12062521), despite comments expressing unease with some provisions (see 12081505). Sanctions include placing attorneys found to have engaged in misconduct on a public list of barred and suspended attorneys.
Six retailers announced April 12 a recall of Buckyballs and Buckycubes high-powered magnet sets due to ingestion hazard, following importer Maxfield & Oberton Holdings’ refusal of a voluntary recall, said the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
On April 15 the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:
During the week of April 8-14, the Food and Drug Administration modified the following existing Import Alerts (not otherwise listed on the FDA's new and revised import alerts page) on the detention without physical examination and/or surveillance of:
The Food and Drug Administration is proposing to establish minimum and maximum levels of selenium in infant formula. The proposed rule would also add selenium to the statement of amounts of nutrients for infant formula labeling, to be listed between iodine and sodium. Comments on the proposed rule are due by July 1, except for comments on proposed information collection requirements, which are due by May 16.
The Food and Drug Administration will begin its month-long reporting period for generic drug facility self-identification for fiscal year 2014 on May 1. Between May 1 and June 1, generic drug facilities, certain sites, and organizations identified in a generic drug submission are required to submit, update, or reconfirm identification information to FDA, it said. More information, including generic drug facilities that have to register, is available (here).