The Court of International Trade affirmed the International Trade Administration’s decision to rescind a new shipper review of the antidumping order on wooden bedroom furniture from China (A-570-890) with respect to Chinese company Marvin Furniture (Shanghai) Co. In its request for the new shipper review, Marvin had told the ITA that its first entries of subject merchandise to the U.S. occurred in June 2011. But after the ITA initiated the review, CBP found earlier entries of subject merchandise from Marvin. Given this new information, the ITA rescinded the new shipper review because Marvin’s review request did not meet the statutory requirements.

The Fresh Garlic Producers Association (FGPA) filed an appeal of the Court of International Trade’s June 11 ruling in Jinxiang Hejia Co. v. United States, according to an Aug. 22 Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit docketing notice. In the appealed ruling, CIT affirmed the zero AD rate assigned to Chinese plaintiff Jinxiang Heija Co. in the second remand redetermination of a new shipper review of the antidumping duty order on fresh garlic from China (A-570-831). The International Trade Administration originally assigned Jinxiang Hejia an AD rate of 15.37%. At issue in the decision was the ITA’s use of price data when calculating surrogate values.

A civil engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Christopher Castillo, 33, of Monte Alto, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of bribery in a case involving a CBP building in southern Texas, the Justice Department said. Castillo, who supervised projects in the Southern District of Texas, admitted he received a new concrete driveway from the owner of the company working on the building. The owner said he was afraid to refuse because Castillo could prevent him from getting government contracts. The project had an estimated value of $80,000. Castillo will face a maximum of 15 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is set for Nov. 28, 2012.

In section 337 patent cases, the party attempting to establish that a patent is invalid because of prior invention bears the burden of proving the prior invention indeed came first, said the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in reversing part of an International Trade Commission determination. According to CAFC, when the dates of conception or notification of the invention overlap, the tie goes to the complainant in validity determinations in section 337 cases.

The Court of Appeals docketed Since Hardware (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd.’s appeal of the Court of International Trade’s rulings in Home Products International, Inc. v. United States. Since Hardware, defendant-intervenor in the case, filed the appeal on Aug. 10 concerning three CIT rulings in January, May, and June. At issue were surrogate values calculated for Since Hardware’s imports in the International Trade Administration’s 2007-08 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on floor-standing, metal-top ironing tables and certain parts thereof (A-570-888). CIT remanded the final results in January, and sustained the resulting remand determination in June.

The International Longshore & Warehouse Union filed suit in U.S. District Court, Portland, Ore., against the Port of Portland and Bill Wyatt, its executive director, saying they unlawfully gave nearly $5 million in public funds to ICTSI Oregon, Inc., a subsidiary of the private Philippines-based company International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), and tens of thousands more to ocean carriers. The suit seeks an injunction against the expenditures.

An Italian shipping company and one of its ship chief engineers were sentenced in U.S. District Court, Mobile, Ala., for deliberately falsifying records to conceal discharges of oily wastewater from the ship directly into the sea, the Justice Department said. Giusseppe Bottiglieri Shipping Company was sentenced by Judge Ginny Granade to pay a $1 million criminal fine, serve four years of probation, and make a $300,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The company must also fund and implement a comprehensive environmental compliance plan during the term of probation. Chief Engineer Vito La Forgia was sentenced by Judge Granade to one month in jail. The company pleaded guilty July 11 to failing to properly maintain an oil record book as required by federal and international law. Vito La Forgia, the ship's chief engineer, pleaded guilty July 12 to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.

The Court of International Trade affirmed the International Trade Commission’s final negative determinations in the second sunset reviews of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on hot-rolled flat-rolled carbon-quality steel products from Brazil and Japan, which resulted in revocation of the AD and CV suspension agreements for Brazil (A-351-828 / C-351-829) and the AD order for Japan (A-588-846). The domestic plaintiffs contested nearly every element of the ITC’s analysis, including the ITC’s decision not to cumulate the volume and effect of subject imports between the countries subject to the sunset review (which included Brazil, Japan and Russia), the likely volume and price effects of imports if the agreements and order were revoked, the vulnerability of domestic industry, and the likelihood of adverse impact, but CIT said the ITC’s determinations in each of these analyses were supported by substantial evidence. As such, CIT deferred to the ITC, and dismissed the challenge.

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Court of International Trade’s 2011 ruling against Shell’s duty drawback claims for Harbor Maintenance Tax and Environmental Tax payments. In June 2011, CIT said the claims were time barred because duty drawback claims may only be filed within the three years after exporting the substitute merchandise. Shell had filed duty drawback claims in 1995 and 1996, within the three-year window, but its claims only requested drawback on import duties, and not on the HMT and ET payments. Shell didn’t file new duty drawback claims for HMT and ET payments during the six-month grace period for untimely drawback claims offered by Congress’ 1999 amendments to the drawback statute, either.

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement reported another seizure of drugs from a vessel arriving at the Port of Norfolk. The seizure of two kilograms each of cocaine and heroin, concealed in the ceiling of a bathroom on the vessel, comes on the heels of the report last week that a joint task force had seized about 35 kilograms of cocaine at the Port of Norfolk in separate drug smuggling ventures. On July 27, the task force seized 32 kilograms of cocaine off of a vessel arriving into the Port of Norfolk, ICE said. On Aug. 4, the task force seized three kilograms of cocaine from a container vessel that was due into Hampton Roads. No arrests have been made and no crew members are suspected of being involved, ICE said.