U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has issued a press release announcing that during an observance of World Intellectual Property Day on April 26, 2010, the federal partners of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center1 announced that more than $263 million worth of counterfeit merchandise was seized by law enforcement around the U.S. in April 2010.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology posts drafts and changes to foreign technical regulations for manufactured products which may be considered technical barriers to trade and are therefore required to be reported to the World Trade Organization, which distributes the information to WTO Member countries.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Bersin and Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Tenenbaum signed a Memorandum of Understanding on April 26, 2010 regarding CBP’s Import Safety Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center (CTAC).
The International Trade Administration has initiated an antidumping duty investigation to determine whether imports of aluminum extrusions from China are being, or are likely to be, sold in the U.S. at less than fair value; and a countervailing duty investigation to determine whether manufacturers, producers, or exporters of aluminum extrusions in China receive countervailable subsidies.
On April 23, 2010, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture increased the fiscal year 2010 raw cane sugar tariff-rate quota by 200,000 short tons raw value (STRV), due to a determination that additional supplies of raw cane sugar are required in the U.S. market.
The International Trade Commission has instituted a section 337 patent-based investigation of certain electronic devices with multi-touch enabled touchpads and touchscreens, pursuant to a complaint (Inv. No. 337-TA-714).
The Federal Register has published the spring 2010 semi-annual regulatory agendas for Federal government agencies.
The International Trade Administration has posted comments by 38 groups regarding prospective versus retrospective antidumping and countervailing duty systems, which were due by April 20, 2010.
State Department, WHO, CDC Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, Country Specific Information Sheets, Etc.
The State Department, World Health Organization, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recently issued the following travel warnings, travel alerts, country specific information sheets, and disease outbreak-related information:
The International Trade Commission has released the public version its report on the probable economic effect of waiving the competitive need limit for Thailand for radial motorcar tires under the Generalized System of Preferences.