In a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case involving bribery in Thailand, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a jury doesn’t need to find financial loss to an identifiable victim in order for a judge to order restitution payments. A judge making that decision is enough, said Judge Alex Kozinski. The ruling affirmed a lower court order that Gerald and Patricia Green pay $250,000 in restitution for $1.8 million in bribes they paid while running the Bangkok International Film Festival. But the ruling left the door open to changes to the 9th Circuit’s handling of restitution cases in light of a recent Supreme Court decision.

A U.S. district court rightfully dismissed a federal lawsuit against the Democratic Republic of the Congo for breach of contract because it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction, said the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a July 2 opinion. Triple A International had sued the Congo in 2010 after the company did not receive some $14 million for military equipment sold to country's predecessor, Zaire. The district court ruled against Triple A, saying the Congo had sovereign immunity.

The Court of International Trade sustained the rescission of a new shipper review on uncovered innerspring units from China (A-570-928), finding reasonable Commerce’s decision to end the review, and keep Foshan Nanhai Jiujiang Quan Li Spring Hardware Factory and Foshan Yongnuo Import & Export subject to the China-wide rate. The companies had requested the new shipper review in an attempt to get their own lower separate rate. Commerce had said the sale up for review was too small and expensive to be a normal commercial sale. It also said the importer couldn’t get its story straight on the circumstances of the sale. Foshan challenged the quantity and value comparisons the agency used to find the sale abnormal, and put forward its own theory on what the importer was trying to say. But CIT said Commerce’s determination was reasonable, and supported by evidence.

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a challenge to the allocation of 2006 U.S.-Canada Softwood Lumber Agreement funds. The agreement ended a countervailing duty order on softwood lumber from Canada by, in part, requiring Canada to distribute $500 million to the Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports (CFLI). A group of non-CFLI domestic producers said compensating CFLI to the exclusion of other domestic producers is discriminatory, contrary to the underlying law, and improperly delegates distribution authority to the CFLI for funds that should have been distributed by the government. The Court of International Trade dismissed in April 2012 (see 12042048), and CAFC found the lower court was correct July 1. The distribution scheme had a rational basis for discriminating because it was meant to solve a trade dispute the CFLI was heavily involved in, CAFC said. And the underlying law was so broad as to give USTR the discretion to agree to distribution to CFLI. USTR didn’t delegate authority to CFLI to distribute the funds either, because it agreed to the distribution method, CAFC said.

Following an investigation by ICE and Homeland Security Investigations (HIS), two Singaporean nationals on June 26 pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The men, Hia Soo Gan Benson and Lim Kow Seng, illegally exported 55 military antennas from the U.S. to Singapore and Hong Kong through a Massachusetts company.

The Court of International Trade again dismissed Hartford Fire Insurance Company’s attempt to void or discharge bonds securing duties on entries made by an importer that violated U.S. import laws. CIT previously dismissed some of the claims brought by Hartford (see 12081428), but had allowed the surety to amend its complaint to say CBP abused its discretion by not requiring the importer to post a cash deposit instead of a bond. CIT granted CBP's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim.

The Court of International Trade sustained the Commerce Department’s determinations on the last remaining issues from the 2003-03 antidumping duty administrative review on fresh garlic from China (A-570-831). The court had remanded the final results twice before. The final issues remaining in this remand redetermination were related to valuation of surrogate inputs, including labor. Because the domestic petitioners didn’t submit comments during the remand proceeding, the court ruled that they didn’t exhaust their administrative remedies, and sustained. As a result, AD rates for the 2002-03 period of review will fall to zero for Zhengzhou Harmoni Spice Co., Ltd.; Jinan Yipin Corporation, Ltd.; Linshu Dading Private Agricultural Products Co., Ltd.; and Sunny Import & Export Co., Ltd.

The Court of International Trade again rejected the 2009-10 antidumping duty administrative review on wooden bedroom furniture from China (A-570-890), finding the Commerce Department failed to comply with two aspects of a September 2012 remand order. While accepting some of Commerce’s explanations and reconsiderations, the court again found fault with the agency’s decision to rely on calculated surrogate values of Huafeng’s inputs instead of the actual market prices paid, as well as its continued reliance on a questionable financial statement. Rather than remand for reconsideration, this time the court ordered that Commerce reverse its positions.

Beta carotene tablets imported by Roche Vitamins are correctly classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule as provitamins, said the Court of International Trade, ruling against CBP’s proposed classification as food preparations. The case had been subject to an earlier ruling in 2010, where the court found factual disputes still existed as to the use of the tablets, and ordered a trial. After trial, CIT found the tablets are predominantly used as a source of provitamin A.

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling in favor of the 2008-09 antidumping duty administrative review on laminated woven sacks from China (A-570-916). Shapiro Packaging challenged the Commerce Department’s decision to assign respondent Zibo Aifudi a higher China-wide rate because of its decision to stop participating midway through the review, which meant Commerce couldn’t verify the company’s submissions on independence from government control. But the appeals court on June 24 said no law prohibits Commerce from disregarding information it can’t verify, and affirmed.