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.

Gang Yan could once again be subject to antidumping duties on diamond sawblades from China (A-570-900), after the Court of International Trade on Oct. 11 sustained the Commerce Department’s decision to treat parent company Advanced Technology & Materials as a state-controlled entity not eligible for its own rate. Commerce had in a March Section 129 determination revoked the order for AT&M and its subsidiaries, Gang Yan and Yichang HXF, because the elimination of zeroing methodology dropped the companies' original investigation rate to zero (see 13032716]). CIT's decision may now subject the companies to the China-wide 164.09 percent rate, and may also make them ineligible for the separate, company-specific zero rate calculated in the Section 129 determination.

The federal judiciary will remain open at least until Oct. 17 despite the ongoing government shutdown, according to notices posted on court websites. The website for the Federal Judiciary said federal courts will remain open for business at least until Oct. 17 due to severe spending restrictions that have meant for some "limited additional funding" (here). "Spending rates and fund balances will continue to be monitored closely in hope that adequate funds may be available to allow courts to operate through the end of the work week -- October 18," it said. The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit put out a similar notice that said it will remain open for business and will reassess its situation on or around Oct. 17 (here).

The Court of International Trade on Oct. 9 dismissed a challenge from a domestic industry coalition to the Commerce Department’s new policy of interpreting the scope of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on aluminum extrusions from China to exclude subassemblies from AD/CVD coverage. An October 2012 scope ruling had found that subassemblies can meet the scope’s exclusion for “finished goods kits,” even though they are components meant for incorporation in a larger finished good. The court dismissed the challenge for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, because the plaintiff, the Aluminum Extrusions Fair Trade Committee (AEFTC), didn’t comment on Commerce’s new policy after it was announced in the preliminary results of the scope ruling.

A California woman was sentenced Sept. 30 to three years in prison for her part in a scheme to hide the identity of imported honey to avoid paying $39.2 million antidumping duties, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. Hung Yi Lin, also known as Katy Lin, pleaded guilty in May at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to falsely declaring that shipments of honey from China were instead sugars, syrups, and apple juice concentrate.

Nine Japan-based companies and two executives have agreed to plead guilty -- and to pay a total of more than $740 million in criminal fines -- for their roles in separate conspiracies to fix the prices of more than 30 different products sold to U.S. car manufacturers and installed in cars sold in the U.S. and elsewhere, said Attorney General Eric Holder at a press conference. He said the international price-fixing conspiracies affected more than $5 billion in automobile parts sold to U.S. car manufacturers, and more than 25 million cars bought by American consumers. Holder said the investigation "uncovered involved more than a dozen separate conspiracies" that resulted in "collusive agreements to rig bids, fix prices and allocate the supply of auto parts sold to U.S. car companies."