The Court of International Trade sustained the International Trade Commission’s final injury determination in the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations of certain coated paper suitable for high-quality print graphics using sheet-fed presses from China (A-570-958 / C-570-959) and Indonesia (A-560-823 / C-860-824). The ITC unanimously found threat of injury to U.S. industry, which resulted in AD/CV duty orders on the merchandise. Several Chinese and Indonesian companies argued that the ITC did not properly consider all nine factors required by applicable law in making its decision, but CIT found the ITC may focus its analysis and need not consider all nine. The foreign plaintiffs failed to argue why consideration of the omitted factors would have resulted in a different outcome, CIT said. CIT also ruled against plaintiffs’ arguments that several other aspects of the ITC’s determination were unsupported by evidence and based on conjecture.
The Court of International Trade dismissed Dependable Packaging Solutions’ classification challenge, ruling that CBP correctly classified the company’s vases in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule as decorative glassware. Dependable argued that because it sold its vases to mass-market flower packing houses, where they were filled and sold to retailers for final sale as a unit, they should have been classified as glass containers for packaging. Noting that the relevant tariff headings referred to principal use, the court disagreed because it found no difference between Dependable’s vases and others sold directly to consumers for decorative use.
Five individuals and two domestic honey processing companies were charged with falsifying entry documents on honey imported from China, and transshipping through other countries, to evade antidumping and duties on the merchandise, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement reported. The seven defendants allegedly evaded antidumping duties totaling more than $180 million, it said.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the International Trade Administration posted to CBP's website Feb. 20, 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.)
Mexico's Diario Oficial of Feb. 20, lists notices from the Secretary of the Economy as follows:
The Fish and Wildlife Service reopened the comment period on proposals to list three foreign macaw species as endangered. FWA had originally published the two proposed rules on July 6, 2012, announcing it had made a 12-month finding that the hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), military macaw (Ara militaris), and great green macaw (Ara ambiguous) should be listed as endangered. The comment period expired in September, but FWS said it received several proposals to extend. Comments are now due by April 22. Comments already submitted don’t need to be resubmitted, FWS said.
The International Trade Commission is publishing notices in the Feb. 20 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):
Neptun Light filed a petition for an International Trade Commission enforcement proceeding, alleging that MaxLite continued to import and sell infringing dimmable compact fluorescent lamps (337-TA-830) despite a 2012 consent order. According to the complaint, a lawyer representing Neptun was able to order the products online well after the consent order was effective. When the products arrived, they were branded "MaxLite" and said they were made in China, Neptun said. Neptun is requesting a permanent cease and desist order, as well as monetary penalties of the greater of the value of the good, or $100,000, for each day the order has been violated.
The International Trade Commission voted to begin an investigation into whether electronic bark control collars that allegedly infringe Radio Systems Corporation’s patent are in violation of Section 337. According to RSC’s original complaint, two products imported from China and sold in the U.S. by Sunbeam Products, the “Advanced Bark Control Collar” and “Mini Bark Control Collar,” infringe a patent held by RSC. RSC is requesting a limited exclusion order and a cease and desist order prohibiting entry and sale of the bark control collars.
The International Trade Administration published notices in the Feb. 20 Federal Register on the following AD/CV proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):