Applikon’s Bioreactor Systems are correctly classified under subheading 8479.82.00, (free) Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTSUS), said the U.S. Court of International Trade in a decision March 28. The U.S. had moved for a rehearing of an earlier decision to correct what it said was “clear error” in the court’s decision.
An importer of Chinese high-strength galvanized finished steel tubing used in scaffolding appealed a decision by the Court of International Trade that upheld the inclusion of its products within the scope of the AD and CVD orders on circular welded carbon quality steel pipe from China. The importer, Constantine N. Polites & Co., had cited an exclusion for “finished scaffolding” in the AD and CV duty orders and claimed its merchandise was finished scaffolding. Following two CIT remands, the International Trade Administration provided evidence to show there were actual imports from China of “finished scaffolding” in kits, and that Polite’s merchandise was not of that type, i.e., was not “finished” and was covered by the orders.
The Court of International Trade denied domestic furniture producer Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc.'s motion to delay Byrd Amendment fund distributions from the antidumping (AD) order on wooden bedroom furniture from China for fiscal years 2007 through 2010. Ashley had sought an injunction on the distributions while it takes up to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit its challenge of the denial by the International Trade Commission to grant it “affected domestic producer” or ADP, under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Act of 2000 (“Byrd Amendment,” or “CDSOA“). (Ashley had not supported the AD petition, as required by the Byrd Amendment to qualify for distributions).
U.S. authorities were banned from importing a drug used to carry out death sentences, in a decision by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., Tuesday. Leon said the Food and Drug Administration never approved the drug for use in the U.S., and he ordered supplies be confiscated. A group of death row inmates had sued last year to block the import or use of the drug, sodium thiopental.
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned a decision by the Court of International Trade that had ruled an importer's antidumping duty entries were improperly “deemed liquidated’ by U.S. Customs and Border Protection while liquidation was suspended. According to the CAFC, all liquidations, whether legal or not, must be timely protested before litigation can occur.
The Supreme Court has asked the Solicitor General for an opinion in order to decide whether to hear a case in which the American Trucking Associations (ATA) seeks reversal of a Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruling on the Port of Los Angeles' Clean Trucks Program concession requirements. The Appeals Court had upheld four of the Port's concession requirements based on the "market participant" exception to federal preemption. ATA expects the Solicitor General to respond by fall 2012.
An executive of Japan's DENSO Corp. agreed to plead guilty and go to prison for fixing prices and rigging bids for heater control panels installed in U.S. cars, the Justice Department said March 26. The one-count felony charge filed in U.S. District Court, Detroit, the executive and others conspired to fix and stabilize the prices of the panels, at least from August 2006 to June 2009. The executive, Norihiro Imai, agreed to a year in prison and a $20,000 fine. A total of eight individuals and three companies have been charged in the government's ongoing investigation of price fixing in the auto parts industry, the Justice Department said.
Indiana-based Biomet faces separate Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department charges of violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with allegedly bribing doctors in Argentina, Brazil and China for more than a decade in order to get more business.
On March 13, 2012, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and import specialists in Seattle, Washington seized a shipment of 25,822 purses arriving in an ocean container from China. More than 8,500 of the purses were seized in violation of various counterfeit trademarks including: Louis Vuitton, North Face, Gucci, Fendi, Burberry and Coach. The combined manufacturer’s suggested retail price of the handbags, had the trademarks been genuine, is more than $8.4 million. According to CBP, China continues to be the number one source country for counterfeit and pirated goods seized, accounting for 62 percent or $124.7 million of the total domestic value of seizures in 2011.
On March 15, 2012, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) filed a Statement of Issues with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In its filing, ATA identifies four areas where the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's December 2011 hours-of-service (HOS) final rule falls short of legal standards for regulatory changes. ATA contends these aspects of the rule are "arbitrary and capricious" and should be overturned.