The Court of International Trade denied Husqvarna’s petition for a writ of mandamus to compel the International Trade Administration to issue a “provisional cash deposit rate” in the overdue 2009-10 antidumping administrative review of diamond sawblades and parts thereof from China (A-570-900). The ITA failed to meet its final results deadline of 180 days after the preliminary results to establish the rate, because it's investigating allegations of fraud in the proceeding. Husqvarna argued it's entitled to a much lower separate rate than the China-wide rate importers currently pay for its merchandise. But CIT, using logic similar to that of the recent Hitachi and Norman G. Jensen rulings on custom protest deadlines, said the statutory 180-day final results deadline is only directory, not mandatory, because the law includes no consequence for noncompliance.

The Department of Justice announced charges against four men for exporting various goods from the U.S. to Iran and China. The goods include carbon fiber, which has a wide variety of uses, including in gas centrifuges that enrich uranium and in military aircraft and strategic missiles. The four individuals charged are Hamid Reza Hashemi, a dual U.S. and Iranian citizen who resides in Iran; Peter Gromacki, a U.S. citizen and resident of Orange County, N.Y.; Amir Abbas Tamimi, an Iranian citizen and resident of Iran; and Murat Taskiran, a Turkish citizen. Hashemi, Gromacki, and Tamimi are in custody in the U.S., DOJ said.

Markos Baghdasarian, manager of Delfin Group USA, pleaded guilty Dec. 4 to charges of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), violating the IEEPA and making false statements in connection with his illegal exports to Iran without the required U.S. government licenses, the Department of Justice said. At sentencing, Baghdasarian faces a potential sentence of five years in prison for conspiring to violate IEEPA, 20 years in prison for violating IEEPA and five years in prison for false statements, it said. Baghdasarian was arrested on May 19 in Atlanta and indicted June 14.

The China Nuclear Industry Huaxing Construction Co. (Huaxing) became the first state-owned entity to plead guilty to U.S. export violations after it pleaded guilty to violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Export Administration Regulations, the Department of Justice said. The company assisted in the illegal export of controlled high-performance epoxy casings from the U.S. to Pakistan for use in a nuclear power plant that Huaxing was building as part of a China-Pakistan nuclear cooperation pact. The company will pay at least $2 million in fines, and will be required to implement an export compliance and training program and undergo third-party audits of its compliance efforts.

The Supreme Court denied a hearing for Alden Leeds’ challenge of an incorrect CBP deemed liquidation of entries for which liquidation was suspended. At the time, the entries had been subject to suspension of liquidation because of an ongoing antidumping duty administrative review. The Court of International Trade had originally ruled in favor of Alden Leeds, and ordered a refund on the excess duties paid because the company’s cash deposits exceeded its final calculated assessment rate. But the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned CIT’s ruling after finding that the company should have protested deemed liquidation, even if it was incorrect. As a result of the Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari, CAFC’s ruling will stand.

The Bureau of Industry and Security has denied Kue Sang Chun's export privileges for five years after he pleaded guilty in January 2011 to exporting defense articles on the USML to South Korea without first obtaining an export license or written authorization from the State Department and other charges. He was sentenced in November 2011 to 14 months in prison. (See ITT's Online Archives 11012519) BIS also decided to revoke all licenses issued pursuant to the Act or Regulations in which Chun had an interest at the time of his conviction, it said in a Federal Register notice scheduled for Dec. 5. Chun is in federal prison in Loretto, Pa.

The Court of International Trade remanded the use of India as the surrogate country for valuation of inputs for Chinese companies in the 2009-10 antidumping administrative review of certain frozen warmwater shrimp from China (A-570-893). Plaintiffs Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Action Committee (AHSTAC) argued that the International Trade Administration should have used Thailand instead. CIT ruled that the ITA’s explanation that it followed its policy was not good enough, and that it needed to come back with a better explanation.

The Court of International Trade affirmed a recalculation of the all others rate determined in the countervailing duty investigation of aluminum extrusions from China (C-570-968), after having remanded the International Trade Administration’s “unreasonable” 374.15 percent rate twice previously. The all others CV rate had been based on 100% use of all subsidy programs alleged in the petition, because it was derived from the adverse facts available rates assigned to the mandatory respondents. In its recalculation, the ITA cut down on the number of subsidy programs used to set the rate for the all others companies, finding a CV rate of 137.65 percent. CIT also affirmed the all others CV rate from the preliminary determination.

A Mexican drug trafficking organization has been declared a drug kingpin, and a San Diego customs broker will spend eight years in prison, in connection with a scheme to illegally import and distribute ephedrine for use in making methamphetamine, said Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. The customs broker, Antonio Gonzalez of San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, also forfeited most of the $4 million seized in the investigation. Gonzalez was sentenced in 2011.

After spending over 23 years as a fugitive, Isidoro “Mario” Garbarino pleaded guilty to one count of falsely classifying imported goods, as well as one count of making false statements, in connection with the illegal import of over 100,000 pounds of Russian and Iranian caviar valued at over $10 million, the Justice Department said. Garbarino, an Italian citizen, charged and indicted in 1987, fled the country while on bail in 1989, and was finally arrested by U.S. Marshals in September 2012. Having already agreed to make restitution of $3 million for unpaid duties and related penalties and interest, Garbarino also faces a maximum of four years in prison at sentencing, DOJ said.