Partner government agency items will be part of the ACE production deployment on Jan. 16, CBP said in a CSMS message Jan. 11. The deployment will include EPA's hydrofluorocarbons message set, as well as a new business rule for northern red snapper under the Seafood Import Monitoring Program announced in November (see 2311290046).
The government is considering adding seafood to its list of priority enforcement targets, joining cotton, polysilicon and tomatoes, according to testimony at a House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight hearing.
Roop Bhatti, former International Trade Commission chief of staff, has joined trade law firm Cassidy Levy as a partner, the firm announced in an email. She worked at the ITC for nearly five years, also serving as counsel to Commissioner Jason Kearns and an attorney adviser.
The International Trade Commission on Jan. 9 announced a new Section 337 investigation that could result in a general exclusion order barring all imports of self-balancing electric skateboards that infringe patents held by Future Motion (ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-1386). The proceeding stems from a complaint filed Dec. 5 by Future Motion alleging Floatwheel, Smilo, Gaea and SoverSky are importing one-wheeled electric skateboards, which move in response to a rider’s weight distribution, that copy its patented technologies used in the Future Motion OneWheel electric skateboard (see 2312120034). The ITC will also consider cease and desist orders, as well as alternatively a limited exclusion order, against the following respondents to the investigation:
The International Trade Commission began a Section 337 investigation Jan. 9 based on allegations that imports of household furniture (ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-1385) from Whalen are infringing copyrights held by Toppan Interamerica, the ITC said in a news release. In its complaint, a Section 337, Toppan said Whalen Furniture is importing furniture finished with a decorative wood grain paper that copies Toppan’s copyrighted patterns (see 2312130062). The ITC will consider whether to issue a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders against Whalen, it said.
The Commerce Department published notices in the Federal Register Jan. 10 on the following AD/CV duty proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, scope, affected firms or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The Commerce Department is amending its final determination from the antidumping duty investigation on certain carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate (CTL plate) from Germany (A-428-844). The changes, based on the final decision in a Court of International Trade case, result in lower AD rates for Dillinger and the "all-others" companies. While Dillinger has received a more recent rate and its cash deposit rate isn't affected by the changes, the "all-others" cash deposit rate will change, effective Dec. 31, 2023. The amended rates are as follows:
The Environmental Protection Agency is setting new significant new use rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 329 per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have not been imported, manufactured or processed for many years and are designated as inactive on the TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory, it said in a final rule released Jan. 10. As a result of the SNURs, anyone planning to manufacture, import or process any of the chemical substances for an activity designated as a significant new use by this rule are required to notify EPA at least 90 days in advance. Importers of chemicals subject to these SNURs will need to certify their compliance with the SNUR requirements, and exporters of these chemical substances will now become subject to export notification requirements. The final rule takes effect March 11.
On Jan. 9, the FDA posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:
The FDA is proposing to end the use of four chemical solvents under its color additive regulations, it said in a pair of notices released Jan. 10. In one notice, the agency said that it filed a petition to remove provisions from the regulations for ethylene dichloride, methylene chloride and trichloroethylene. In the other, the FDA said it filed a petition to remove benzene, as well as other uses of ethylene dichloride, methylene chloride and trichloroethylene. The petitions say the chemicals have been found to cause cancer. Comments are due March 11.