On Feb. 1 the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Feb. 1 to Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) electronic manuals. While some changes are minor, other changes may affect the admissibility of the plant products, including fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
The Census Bureau removed the Automated Export System (AES) Port of Export Code 3312 for Whitetail, Mont., effective immediately. All AESPcLink users must update their AES code tables to reflect the update to the Ports of Export, Census said. Users of AESDirect who file via the website at www.aesdirect.gov will have their code tables updated via the program automatically.
The Coalition for American Solar Manufacturers is challenging the International Trade Administration’s antidumping and countervailing duty orders on solar cells from China before the Court of International Trade, according to a press release issued by the group. The heart of the court challenge is the ITA’s decision to exclude from the scope of the AD/CV orders solar panels assembled in China from third-country solar cells. CASM is also challenging the ITA’s determinations not to investigate certain Chinese subsidy programs, and its decisions to afford several Chinese companies separate rate status.
The Court of International Trade ordered 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. Corning Gilbert was not a party to the ITC Section 337 investigation that resulted in the general exclusion order, and so the ITC never specifically found that the company’s connectors infringed the relevant patents. But CBP denied entry to Corning Gilbert’s connectors based on the exclusion order, and later issued a ruling letter confirming that the company’s connectors were to be refused entry. 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.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the International Trade Administration posted to CBP's website Feb. 1, 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 and the Mexican tomato industry initialed a draft agreement Feb. 2 that would continue to suspend the antidumping duty investigation of fresh tomatoes from Mexico. Without such an agreement, prices for popular types of tomatoes could increase to almost $5 per pound, industry groups have said. Agreements suspending the AD investigation have been in place since 1996, and renewed in 2002 and 2007. The investigation reached the preliminary stage in 1996 before agreement was reached, finding AD rates of 4.16 to 188.45 percent for Mexican tomato exporters.
Tajikstan will become the 159th member of the World Trade Organization on March 2, said the WTO. The country applied for WTO membership in 2001, and negotiations concluded in October 2012. Tajikstan agreed to implement all WTO provisions from the date of its accession, without any transitional periods.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission will hold a public hearing Feb. 7 in Washington, D.C. on “China’s New Leadership and Implications for the United States.” The hearing will be the first in USCC’s 2013 report cycle. Specific topics the hearing will address include the impacts of China’s recent leadership transition, and the U.S.’s evolving policy towards Asia. Reservations are not required to attend the hearing.
The International Trade Commission is publishing notices in the Feb. 1 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):