The Court of International Trade sustained zero percent antidumping duty rates set for POSCO and Hyundai HYSCO in the final results of the 2009-10 administrative review of corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products from South Korea (A-580-816), in a recently released opinion dated Dec. 27. The zero rate for POSCO resulted in its exclusion from the order under the Commerce Department’s old regulation allowing partial revocation for companies that don’t dump in three consecutive administrative reviews. U.S. Steel and Nucor challenged revocation for the company, among other things, arguing market conditions during the review period, including the worldwide economic downturn, indicated that POSCO would resume dumping if duties were lifted. Absent evidence that POSCO would actually resume underselling in the absence of AD duties, such arguments were speculative, and Commerce was not required to address them, said the court.

The Court of International Trade denied challenges from both sides of a dispute over the 2009-10 antidumping duty administrative review on frozen warmwater shrimp from India (A-533-840). Indian companies Apex Exports and Falcon Marine Exports argued that refunds it received on prior AD duty payments should offset certain costs that had resulted in a higher AD duty rate for the companies. On the other hand, domestic petitioners said past AD duty payments should be deducted from U.S. prices for the purposes of the duty calculation. In a recently released opinion dated Dec. 31, the court rejected both arguments and sustained Commerce’s final results.

The U.S. government on Jan. 8 told a federal court in New York that it intends to take part in a whistleblower suit against an apparel importer for underpayment of duties. The false claims suit alleges several affiliated apparel companies in New York underreported the dutiable value on invoices provided to CBP for imports of women’s apparel by using a second, unreported invoice for part of the purchase price. That resulted in a loss of revenue to the federal government of at least $3 million per year in unpaid duties, says the complaint.

Lost profits shouldn’t be added to damages for losses during transportation unless a specific contractual provision requires it, ruled a federal district court in Houston on Jan. 2. Maass Flange argued it should be able to recover lost profits that resulted from a boring mill it imported from Canada being damaged while being transported to its facility in Texas. Totran Transportation was moving the boring mill by truck when it hit an overpass near Denton. The Texas Southern U.S. District Court found Totran couldn’t be held liable under the Carmack Amendment for lost profits that resulted from Maass not being able to use the damaged boring mill. Awarding special damages simply based on the argument that Maass had lost profits would expose carriers to liability for such damages for “virtually every shipment to any kind of manufacturing or similar facility,” it said. If Maass wanted to protect its profits, it should have put a specific provision in its contract with Totran to that effect, said the court.

Mark Alexander of Georgia was sentenced to 18 months in prison after a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to violate the U.S. trade embargo with Iran, said ICE in a press release. Alexander conspired with two Iranian businessmen to sell Hydrajet water-jet cutting systems, used for the precision cutting of materials such as aluminum, glass, granite and steel, to customers located in Iran, said ICE.

A Chinese exporter of Vitamin C is appealing an award of $153,300,000 in a class action suit related to antitrust violations. Hebei Welcome Pharmaceutical filed its appeal Dec. 23 in the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, contesting a Nov. 26 judgment at the Eastern New York U.S. District Court that found the company liable for damages related to a price fixing scheme.

A Wyoming fossil dealer pleaded guilty on Jan. 2 to illegally smuggling dinosaur bones and other fossils from China and Mongolia into the United States. John Rolater will pay a $25,000 fine and will forfeit fossils with an estimated value of $2,450,815, including skulls from a sabertooth tiger and a tyrannosaurus bataar, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Rolater owns and operates two "By Nature Gallery" retail stores in Jackson, Wyo., and Beaver Creek, Colo. The fossils were discovered in two homes owned by Rolator during searches prompted by a call to ICE’s hot-line.

A group of Dallas-based companies and their owner will pay a $120,000 penalty to settle charges that they illegally imported over 24,000 motorcycles and recreational vehicles that didn’t comply with the Clean Air Act, announced the Environmental Protection Agency on Jan. 6. Savoia, BMX Imports, BMX Trading, and their owner, Terry Zimmer, allegedly imported the vehicles from several foreign manufacturers into the U.S. through the Port of Long Beach, then sold them on the internet and at a retail location and Dallas. Through inspections at the Port of Long Beach and other ports of entry, EPA says it found out about 11,000 of the vehicles weren’t covered by certificates of conformity, 23,000 were sold without the required emissions warranty, and about 500 didn’t have proper emission control labels, all in violation of the Clean Air Act.

The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 24 found California-based Concord Farms guilty of trademark infringement for importing gray market Japanese mushrooms that were similar to, but not the same as, mushrooms sold by the Japanese company’s subsidiary in the United States. The ruling affirms a permanent injunction ordered by the Central California U.S. District Court in 2011 to block Concord Farms from importing and selling mushrooms made by Hokuto in Japan. The 9th Circuit found the lower court correctly concluded that the Hokuto mushrooms slightly differed from mushrooms distributed in the U.S. by Hokto USA, and so were not “genuine goods” protected from infringement claims.

The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed on Dec. 30 a lower court’s award of damages from a third-party logistics provider to a Mexican import-export company for the loss of goods while in transit through the U.S. to Mexico. The Southern Texas U.S. District Court in October 2012 had ordered Transmaritime to pay Mexican import-export company Mari Jose $300,000 in damages for the loss of nearly 2,000 boxes of Christmas lights. The appeals court, however, found Mari Jose had failed to establish that the loss occurred while the goods were in Transmaritime’s possession.