The Court of International Trade again remanded the all-others rate from the original countervailing duty investigation of aluminum extrusions from China (C-570-968). CIT continued to find that the ITA was within its rights to use only the mandatory respondents’ CV rates to calculate the all others rate. CIT also found its within the rights of the ITA to use only mandatory respondents’ AD rates determined using adverse facts available.¹ But CIT said the ITA’s remand redetermination still did not explain how the 375.15% AFA CV for mandatory respondents rate was reasonable use as an all others rate, and remedial not punitive.

Manhattan antiques dealer David Hausman pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to obstruction of justice and creating false records in relation to illegal rhinoceros horn trafficking, said Ignacia Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources. Hausman admitted he committed the offenses while telling the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service he was an antiques expert that wanted to help FWS investigate rhinoceros horn trafficking. Hausman was arrested in February 2012 as part of "Operation Crash," a nationwide, multi-agency crackdown on those involved in the black market trade of endangered rhinoceros horn.

The Court of International Trade dismissed claims that the International Trade Administration improperly ordered the retroactive suspension of liquidation of some of Chinese woven sack exporter Zibo Aifudi Plastic Packaging Co., Ltd.’s subject merchandise as moot, and sustained the International Trade Administration’s decision to apply the China-wide rate to AMS as a result of Adverse Facts Available (AFA) in the 2008-09 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on laminated woven sacks from China (A-570-916).

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a Court of International Trade remand of the final results of the 2006-07 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on magnesium metal from the Russian Federation, and ordered CIT to reinstate the original final results. In its ruling, CAFC said CIT overstepped its authority by requiring the International Trade Administration to consider factual information that Russian magnesium and titanium manufacturer PSC VSMPA-Avisma submitted beyond the regulatory deadline. CAFC also said CIT misinterpreted the phrase “ordinary course of business” in the statute in requiring the ITA to use a methodology that also accounted for Avisma’s titanium production when allocating costs in the calculation of constructed value for Avisma’s magnesium sales. According to CAFC, the phrase refers to a normal time period, and does not dictate a specific cost accounting methodology.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents seized several sandstone and bronze statues that were smuggled from India at storage units located in a facility in Manhattan. The storage units allegedly belong to Subhash Kapoor, the owner of Art of the Past Gallery. Along with the search warrant, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office issued an arrest warrant for Kapoor for allegedly possessing stolen property, ICE said.

The Court of International Trade approved amendments to its Rules for Review and Comment July 24, which are set to take effect on Sept. 3. CIT had proposed the amendments, which pertain to CIT Rule 54.1, for comment on April 13. CIT said it received no comments on the amendments, and adopted the proposal without change. The amendments to Rule 54.1 include, among other things, a requirement that applications for attorney’s fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act be filed within 30 days after the date of final judgment (the Rule previously stated that applications must be filed within 30 days after the court enters final judgment). A new sentence also says the 30-day statutory period for filing an application under the Equal Access to Justice Act begins to run after the expiration of the time period for filing an appeal. The amendments to rule 54.1 are available here.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement returned 11 stolen and looted cultural artifacts, including 10 Nok statues and one carved tusk, to the government of Nigeria. The items were seized by ICE special agents and CBP officers after the importers surrendered them. ICE cooperated with French authorities in the investigation. The artifacts were imported as “personal effects.”

A California man pleaded guilty July 26 in U.S. District Court, Chicago, to a felony charge of trying to illegally export missile components from the U.S. to Iran, via the United Arab Emirates. The defendant, Andro Telemi, 42, of Sun Valley, Calif., pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to export defense articles on the U.S. Munitions List without a license or approval from the U.S. Department of State in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan set sentencing for Oct. 30. Telemi faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison a $250,000 fine. Telemi, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Iran, also known as "Andre Telimi," and "Andre Telemi," was indicted in December 2009, along with co-defendant Davoud Baniameri, 39, of Woodland Hills, Calif. A superseding indictment in July 2010 charged Baniameri, Telemi and a third defendant, Syed Majid Mousavi, an Iranian citizen living in Iran. (See ITT's Online Archives [Ref.11060128]).

The Court of International Trade affirmed the International Trade Administration’s second remand redetermination of a scope determination for certain steel nails from China (A-570-909), and dismissed the case in its entirety. The original determination had excluded nails imported in home tool kits from the scope of the AD order. In response to a challenge by Mid Continent Nail Corporation, CIT had remanded the ITA’s determination in May 2011, finding that the ITA has applied contradictory approaches in cases where merchandise covered by AD orders is imported in kits with non-covered items. CIT then found fault with the results of the ITA’s first remand redetermination in March, saying that "[t]he nails in question …are unambiguously subject to the Final order,” and remanded again. In this affirmed second remand, the ITA found the nails to be in scope, but did not address application of a uniform test to products imported in kits. The ITA's remand redetermination is available here.

A Heber Springs, Ark., family and three others were indicted for distribution of synthetic narcotics, known as bath salts, imported from China, reported Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. The bath salts in this case were manufactured in and imported from China and distributed to individuals in the Heber Springs area, primarily teenagers and young adults, ICE said.