The Court of International Trade again ruled against the Commerce Department’s 15-day period to issue liquidation instructions to CBP after publication of the final results of an administrative review, in a challenge to the 2008-09 antidumping duty review on ball bearings from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The judgment was only declaratory, however, because the plaintiffs were able to file their lawsuit and get an injunction within that period, suffering no harm from the Commerce policy.

Robert Luba, the owner of Allied Components, pleaded guilty to making a false claim to the Defense Department and for violations of the Arms Export Control Act, said ICE in a press release. Luba knowingly supplied the Defense Department with F-15 fighter plane components made in India that were supposed to be made in the U.S., said ICE. He also violated the Arms Export Control Act by transmitting information about a component of a nuclear-powered submarine to India without the approval of the State Department, the agency said.

The KMT Group AB settled a civil liability case with the Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), agreeing to pay $125,000 for apparent violations of Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations committed by a subsidiary company, said OFAC. The KMT Group AB subsidiary attempted to export nine high pressure water jetting pump units pumps from the U.S. to Germany, with knowledge or reason to know that the goods were intended specifically for reexportation to South Pars Industrial Gas Complex in Tehran, Iran, said OFAC. The attempted export took place between February and March 2009. OFAC said the company did not voluntarily self-disclose the export destination to OFAC, but the violations do not constitute an egregious case, the agency said. CBP already seized two of the pumps and as part of the settlement, the KMT Group AB agreed that no KMT Group entities will contest CBP’s forfeiture proceedings against the remaining seven pumps, OFAC said.

The Court of International Trade blocked liquidation on entries of shrimp from China made from Feb. 1, 2011, through Jan. 31, 2012, after the domestic Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Action Committee filed a lawsuit challenging a Commerce Department antidumping duty administrative review. CIT Judge Claire Kelly on Oct. 16 issued a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order barring liquidation of entries of merchandise subject to the AD duty order on frozen warmwater shrimp from China for certain companies. She confirmed the orders enjoining liquidation on Oct. 21. The Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Action Committee is challenging Commerce’s selection of mandatory respondents, use of Indian surrogate data, and partial revocation for Regal. The preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order cover entries exported by the following companies:

Federal agencies are working to seize illegally imported decorative contact lenses, as part of a general crackdown on counterfeit and unapproved decorative and colored lenses in the run-up to Halloween. The ongoing effort by the Food and Drug Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and CBP, called “Operation Double Vision,” attempts to mitigate dangers associated with the contact lenses, which are increasingly popular during this time of year.

A Utah-based marketer of iPhone accessories, bottle holders, lens cleaners, dog collars, leashes, and other products agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it falsely claimed some of its products were “Made in the U.S.A” or “Truly Made in the USA,” even though the products contained “substantial” foreign content, said the FTC. Under the terms of the proposed settlement, the company will have to stop making claims of U.S. origin of its products unless virtually all of a given product is made in the U.S. It would also have to stop distributing deceptive promotional material to third-party retailers, and must contact all distributors who bought or received products between 2010 and 2013 and provide them with a notice and copy of the order, the FTC said.

Two brothers plead guilty for conspiracy to illegally export firearm parts to Thailand in a U.S. District Court in Seattle, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington said. The brothers, Nares Lekhakul and Naris Lekhakul, shipped gun parts, including magazines for .45 caliber handguns, disguised as other commodities for a multi-year period that culminated in their June 2013 arrest. Prosecutors have agreed to recommend a sentence of four years in prison for Naris, 42, and 30 months in prison for Nares, 36. Four additional defendants pleaded guilty to the conspiracy.

A New Jersey U.S. District Court judge sentenced a man to a year and a day in prison for his part in an international conspiracy to import counterfeit Nike shoes from China. District Judge Dennis Cavanaugh on Oct. 22 sentenced Aref Abuhadba, of Totowa, N.J., after he pleaded guilty in May to conspiring to traffic in counterfeit goods, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the New Jersey District. Abuhadba had already presented the government with a $200,000 check during his plea hearing to cover his proceeds from the operation. Judge Cavanaugh ordered him to pay another $25,000.

The Court of International Trade sustained the Commerce Department’s decision to assign Jiangsu Jianghai Chemical an “above de minimis” antidumping duty rate -- but not calculate exactly what that rate may be -- in the original AD duty investigation of 1-Hydroxyethylidene-1, 1-Diphosphonic Acid (HEDP) from China. The Commerce determination came on Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit remand, after the appeals court had ruled against the agency’s adverse facts available (AFA) rate for Jiangsu Jianghai despite the company’s cooperation.

Nine non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOCCs) and freight forwarders will pay $617,500 in civil penalties as part of an agreement reached with the Federal Maritime Commission related to allegations of violations of the Shipping Act of 1984, the FMC said. "The parties settled and agreed to penalties, but did not admit to violations of the Shipping Act," the agency said.