A domestic producer coalition seeks the imposition of new antidumping duties on paper plates from China, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as new countervailing duties on paper plates from China and Vietnam, it said in petitions filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission Jan. 24. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CVD orders and the assessment of AD and CVD on importers. The American Paper Plate Coalition, consisting of AJM Packaging, Aspen Products, Dart Container, Hoffmaster Group, Huhtamaki Americas and Unique Industries, filed the petition.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the Jan. 25 Federal Register on the following AD/CVD injury, Section 337 patent or other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will be in another ITT article):
Optimum Communications Services seeks a general exclusion order banning all imports of network equipment supporting NETCONF standards that allegedly infringe its patents, the International Trade Commission said in a Jan. 25 notice. A complaint filed by Optimum Jan. 19 said imports of the goods, used for network management systems for managing remote network elements, violate Section 337 by infringing on its patented technologies that “improve cost-efficiency, reliability and performance of network configuration and monitoring.” The complaint singles out Changsha Silun, Hunan Maiqiang, Hunan Zikun and Guangzhou Qiton as infringing on Optimum’s patents, and also seeks cease and desist orders against each of those China-based companies.
The International Trade Commission is beginning a Section 337 investigation on allegations by X1 Discovery that computing devices from Asus, Acer and Dell that use indexed search systems are infringing on its patents, the ITC said in a news release Jan. 23. X1 Discovery says Asus, Acer and Dell desktop and laptop computers copy its technologies related to “incremental or reactive searching of a variety of search targets, including files, emails, email attachments, Web pages, and specific databases” (see 2312270061). The ITC will consider whether to issue a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders against the following respondents:
The Commerce Department published notices in the Federal Register Jan. 25 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 has issued the preliminary results of its antidumping duty administrative review on mattresses from Thailand (A-549-841). The agency preliminarily said the only company under review, Saffron Living Co., Ltd., made sales of subject merchandise to the U.S. at less than fair value during the period under review, and assigned it an AD rate of 763.28%. If Commerce's finding for Saffron is continued in the final results, the agency will assign a 763.28% cash deposit rate to Saffron. Subject merchandise from Saffron entered May 1, 2022, through April 30, 2023, would be liquidated at importer-specific rates. Commerce will make its final decision when it issues the final results of this review, currently due in May.
The Commerce Department published the preliminary results of its antidumping duty administrative review on 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (R-134a) from China (A-570-044). The agency preliminarily assigned the 23 companies for which a review was requested that didn't qualify for a separate rate to the China-wide entity, which has an AD rate of 167.02%. Any changes to cash deposit rates for the 23 companies remaining under review would take effect on the publication date of the final results of this review. If the preliminary rate is confirmed in the final results, Commerce will order liquidation for subject merchandise entered April 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023, at the China-wide rate of 167.02%.
A model of spare light truck tires imported from Thailand by Cheng Shin Rubber USA is not covered by an antidumping duty order on Thai light truck tires, Commerce said in a Jan. 18 scope ruling. The products were for temporary use only, and temporary tires are excluded from the order, it said.
End module side cover and cable tray connection brackets from India imported by Sigma aren't covered by antidumping and countervailing duties on Indian cold-rolled steel flat products, Commerce said in a Dec. 13 scope ruling. It said the products were excluded from the order because they had undergone enough further processing.
The antidumping and countervailing duty orders on wooden cabinets and vanities from China covers cabinets and vanities made from phragmites, a type of reed, the Commerce Department said in a Jan. 12 scope ruling that found merchandise exported by Nanjing Kayling subject to AD/CVD.