The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for April 9:
The Wind Tower Trade Coalition appealed the Court of International Trade’s denial of an injunction preventing liquidation of entries made during the “provisional measures” period between the preliminary determination and antidumping and countervailing duty orders in the investigations of utility scale wind towers from China and Vietnam. The court had ruled March 29 that a previous CIT case had decided the issue of how to interpret the International Trade Commission’s vote pattern in its injury determination, and so the coalition would have had a difficult time proving the ITA improperly ordered liquidation of the entries (see 13040132).
The government appealed a February Court of International Trade decision ordering CBP to admit coaxial cable connectors imported by Corning Gilbert, but found by CBP to be subject to an International Trade Commission general exclusion order for patent infringement. CBP had denied entry to Corning Gilbert’s connectors based on the exclusion order, despite no ITC finding for the company in the underlying Section 337 investigation, and later issued a ruling letter confirming that the company’s connectors were to be refused entry. In February, CIT found that CBP’s ruling letter was not entitled to deference because the agency didn’t adequately address the question of patent infringement. After examining the patent at issue and Corning Gilbert’s connector, CIT said the connector didn’t infringe the relevant patents and should not have been excluded (see 13020405).
Dependable Packaging appealed the Court of International Trade’s Feb. 21 decision on classification of its vases as decorative glassware, rather than glass containers for packaging. CIT’s decision was based on the principal use of the company’s vases -- although Dependable Packaging argued that the vases were used to pack flowers for final sale as a unit, the court found that there was no difference between the vases at issue in the case and those sold to consumers for decorative use (see 13022104).
The Court of International Trade again remanded the final results of the 2008 antidumping duty administrative review on wooden bedroom furniture from China (A-570-890), partly because of the partial adverse facts available (AFA) rate chosen for Chinese company Fairmont’s unreported sales.1 The court had first remanded the International Trade Administration’s final results in June 2012, for the ITA to reconsider Fairmont’s partial AFA rate, the surrogate wage rate, its use of a financial statement, and its use of zeroing (see 12060729). On remand, the ITA recalculated the wage rate and adequately explained its use of zeroing, but failed to implement the court’s orders on Fairmont’s partial AFA rate and the use of the financial statement.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the International Trade Administration posted to CBP's website April 8, 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.)
The International Trade Administration issued a final rule establishing time limits for specific types of submissions of factual information in antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings. The rule amends definitions in the ITA’s regulations to define the specific types of factual information the agency accepts in AD/CVD proceedings, and establishes time limits for each specific type of actual information. The final rule also changes current time limits for some kinds of factual information.
The International Trade Commission is publishing notices in the April 8 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 is asking for comments by May 3 on public interest factors related to its consideration of appropriate relief in the Section 337 patent investigation of dimmable compact fluorescent lamps (337-TA-830). The administrative law judge recommended the ITC issue a limited exclusion order barring imports of the infringing products by Technical Consumer Products, Shanghai Qiangling Electronics, Zhejiang Qiang Ling Electronic, and U Lighting America. Neptun Light requested the investigation in February 2012 (see 12022244). The products at issue are dimmable compact fluorescent lamps, which are light bulbs that function as direct replacements for dimmable incandescent light bulbs.
Okin America and affiliated company Dewert Okin GmbH filed a request April 3 for an International Trade Commission investigation into whether imports of linear actuators that allegedly infringe its patents are violating Section 337. The linear actuators at issue use electric motors to extend the footrest and adjust the chair back on seating furniture. According to Okin, Chinese company Changzhou Kaidi and its U.S. affiliate Kaidi LLC are importing linear actuators that infringe its patents. Okin is requesting a general exclusion order blocking all imports of linear actuators that infringe its patents, as well as cease and desist orders against the two respondents.