The Justice Department has announced that Kexue Huang, a Chinese national, has pleaded guilty to one count of economic espionage to benefit a component of the Chinese government and one count of trade secrets theft, in violation of the Economic Espionage Act.

Chinese producers contested the International Trade Administration’s remand determinations for the November 2003 - October 2004 AD administrative review of fresh garlic from China, in which the agency markedly increased their dumping margins, to between 26.67% and 55.18%. The Court of International Trade faulted the agency for repeatedly choosing “admittedly distorted Indian import statistics over potentially ‘perfect’ price quotes,” and ordered it to recalculate costs for garlic bulbs, plastic jars and lids, and cardboard cartons, as well as labor costs, which the agency had acknowledged needed recalculation. See ITT’s Online Archives or 06/21/11 news, 11062120, for BP summary of the ITA’s new method of calculating the labor wage rate for non-market economies.) Slip Op. 11-119, dated 09/26/11)

Russian producer PSC VSMPO-AVISMA Corp. (together with affiliate VSMPO-Tirus, U.S., Inc.) elected to withhold its participation in the AD administrative review of magnesium metal from the Russian Federation for the period April 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008, and the International Trade Administration then assigned it an adverse AD duty rate of 43.58 percent, which the company argued was not connected to commercial reality. In response to remand instructions from the Court of International Trade, the ITA cited import statistics showing AVISMA’s U.S. prices during the period of review, at a time of a rising ruble value. The CIT concluded that the agency had sufficiently demonstrated that AVISMA could have dumped at a rate close to 43.58% and upheld that rate assignment. (Slip Op. 11-115, dated 09/15/11)

The Bureau of Industry and Security has announced that Jeng "Jay" Shih and his New York company, Sunrise Technologies and Trading Corporation, pleaded guilty on October 7, 2011 to conspiracy to illegally export U.S.-origin computers from the U.S. to Iran through the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Under the terms of the plea and related BIS civil and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) settlements, Shih and his company will forfeit $1.25 million.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on September 26, 2011 ruled against the Port of Los Angeles’ concession plan rule that drayage truck drivers must be employees of licensed motor carriers (LMCs), but upheld four other contested concession requirements.

American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC) announced on September 14, 2011 that it is filing criminal and civil complaints in China against Sinovel Wind Group Co., Ltd. and other parties alleging the illegal use of AMSC's intellectual property. Based in part upon evidence obtained through AMSC and law enforcement investigations, AMSC believes that Sinovel illegally obtained and used AMSC's intellectual property to upgrade its 1.5 megawatt wind turbines in the field to meet proposed Chinese grid codes and to potentially allow for the use of core electrical components from other manufacturers.

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed a Court of International Trade decision to uphold Custom's classification of LeMans Corporation's motocross jerseys and pants, and motorcycle jackets as apparel under Chapters 61 and 62 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The CAFC stated that the articles are not classifiable as sports equipment in Chapter 95 as they are designed for comfort, worn on the body, and because specialization doesn't exclude articles from being classified as apparel.

The Justice Department has announced that Danfoss Flensburg GmbH, formerly Danfoss Compressors GmbH, has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $3 million criminal fine for its role in an international conspiracy to fix the prices of light commercial compressors, a type of refrigerant compressor used in devices such as water coolers and vending machines. Danfoss is the third company to be charged in the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation of the international conspiracy to fix the prices of refrigerant compressors.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has announced that 81 countries (up from 45 last year) have taken part in an international week of action targeting the online sale of counterfeit and illegal medicines. The operation resulted in dozens of arrests and the seizure of 2.4 million potentially harmful medicines worldwide worth $6.3 million. Fifty-five individuals were arrested and are under investigation for a range of offenses, including illegally selling and supplying unlicensed or prescription-only medicines, and about 36 search warrants were executed. Operations within the U.S. resulted in 92 seizures, consisting of 57,052 pills, including counterfeit Cialis and Viagra, with a manufacturer suggested retail price of $925,520.

The Justice Department has announced that on October 3, 2011, Richard Ertel of Virginia pleaded guilty to two felony violations of the Lacey Act by illegally importing and illegal trafficking sperm whale teeth. As part of the plea, Ertel admitted that from April 2002 to June 2007, he was in the business of buying and selling sperm whale teeth that he purchased from sources in the Ukraine, and then sold to customers in Virginia and elsewhere in the U.S. He admitted to conducting much of his business via the Internet. Ertel could be sentenced up to five years in prison and fined up to $250,000 for each count. Sentencing is scheduled for January 2012.