On Aug. 7 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Special Import Quota #25 for upland cotton that will be established on Aug. 14, allowing importation of 14,741,821 kilograms (67,709 bales) of upland cotton. It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Nov. 11, and entered into the U.S. by Feb. 9, 2015. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally-adjusted average rate for the period March through May, the most recent three months for which data are available.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website Aug. 7, 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 http://adcvd.cbp.dhs.gov/adcvdweb.
The Eastern New York U.S. District Court on July 31 dismissed a lawsuit brought by a New England furniture store against its customs broker for gross negligence when filing entry documentation. Cardi’s Furniture said FedEx Trade Networks ignored its instructions to list a furniture wholesaler as importer of record on an entry. FedEx countered that Cardi’s was only trying to evade antidumping duties on wooden bedroom furniture from China. The court found that it didn’t have to decide, because FedEx was protected by a contract clause that limited entry-related lawsuits to 75 days after the date of liquidation.
The International Trade Commission is finalizing changes to its rules on the treatment of classified national security information. The final rule amends the ITC’s Rules of Practice and Procedure for Mandatory Declassification Reviews on whether to make public classified information. The new regulations take effect Sept. 8.
Adrian Rivera and his company ARM Enterprises filed on Aug. 4 a complaint at the International Trade Commission requesting a Section 337 investigation into patent infringement by imports of beverage brewing capsules. Rivera says several companies are manufacturing and importing from China products that infringe patents he holds on reusable capsules used for brewing coffee or tea using single-serve brewing machines like the Keurig K-Cup. The complaint singles out Solofill’s K3 and K2, manufactured by DonGuan Hai Rui Precision Mould in China; Eko Brands’ Elite and Eko Brew capsules, manufactured and imported by Ever Much in China; Melitta’s E-Filter, manufactured by LBP Packaging in China; and Spark’s Café Cup, manufactured and imported by B. Marlboros International of Hong Kong. Rivera also includes Amazon in the complaint. Rivera is requesting limited exclusion orders and cease and desist orders banning importation and sale of infringing beverage brewing capsules by each respondent. Comments on public interest factors raised by the complaint are due Aug. 18 (here).
The Commerce Department published notices in the Aug. 7 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):
Steel baluster and newel fasteners imported by Colonial Elegance are subject to antidumping duties on steel threaded rod from China (A-570-932), said the Commerce Department in a scope ruling issued Aug. 1. The three models of fasteners subject to the scope inquiry meet all of the characteristics in the scope, and the fact that the Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading for the fasteners isn’t listed in the scope is irrelevant, said Commerce.
The Commerce Department is adjusting some antidumping duty cash deposit rates for oil country tubular goods from Taiwan (A-583-850), after finding calculation errors in the final determination it issued in July. The agency’s amended final determination drops AD duty rates for Tension Steel Industries Co., Ltd. to 2.34% (from 2.52%), and likewise decreases the rate for the “all others” companies (i.e., not Tension Steel or Chung Hung) to 2.34% (from 2.52%). The zero rate assigned to Chung Hung Steel Corp. is unchanged. The new rates take effect Aug. 8.
No antidumping or countervailing duty orders will be placed on steel threaded rod from India, after the International Trade Commission voted on Aug. 6 that dumped and illegally subsidized imports are not injuring nor threatening to injury U.S. industry. The commission’s vote was unanimous, with one commissioner abstaining. As a result of the ITC’s determination, the Commerce Department will refund all AD and CV duty cash deposits it collected on entries of steel threaded rod from India, and will end its investigation.