Correction: If U.S. and Japanese negotiators can reach an agreement on outstanding bilateral issues in Trans-Pacific Partnership talks before the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Partnership summit, the remaining agricultural market access disputes among TPP partners will likely wrap up in the near future, said Head of International Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Myron Brilliant (see 1410300001).
Brian Feito
Brian Feito is Managing Editor of International Trade Today, Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. A licensed customs broker who spent time at the Department of Commerce calculating antidumping and countervailing duties, Brian covers a wide range of subjects including customs and trade-facing product regulation, the courts, antidumping and countervailing duties and Mexico and the European Union. Brian is a graduate of the University of Florida and George Mason University. He joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2012.
Proposed suspension agreements to end the antidumping duty investigations on sugar from Mexico would not allow the investigations to proceed to their final stages, according to a lawyer familiar with the case. That means the suspension agreements, which include minimum prices and quantity restrictions on sugar imports (see 1410280027), would take effect sooner rather than later. It also means that, under the tentative agreements’ current form, there would be no chance the International Trade Commission would be allowed to reach its final injury determination and potentially terminate the investigations by finding no injury to U.S. industry.
A coalition of domestic manufacturers pushing for renewed antidumping duties on diamond sawblades from South Korea was dealt a blow on Oct. 29, as the Court of International Trade sustained zero percent AD duty rates for two South Korean exporters (here). The case could have resulted in reinstatement of the AD duty order (see 13102802), which was revoked in 2011 to implement a World Trade Organization mandate (see 11102822). But with rates for Ehwa and Shinhan affirmed at zero percent by CIT, the possibility of reinstatement “has been foreclosed by this decision,” said Max Schutzman of Grunfeld Desiderio, who represented Ehwa in the case. The decision is still subject to appeal. An attorney for the Diamond Sawblades Manufacturers Coalition did not immediately return a request for comment.
The antidumping duty rate for an exporter of wooden bedroom furniture from China appears set to fall, after the Court of International Trade on Oct. 28 sustained the Commerce Department’s fourth redetermination in a long-running dispute over an administrative review of entries in 2007 (here). The AD rate for Guangdong Yihua Timber Industry Co., Ltd. will fall from 29.89% to 21.53% as a result of the decision. No new rate has been calculated for Yihua Timber in administrative reviews of entries since 2007, so if the CIT decision stands Yihua Timber’s cash deposit rate will also fall to 21.53%.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Oct. 20-26:
The Agricultural Marketing Service is implementing late fees and interest charges for late payments under the softwood lumber marketing order, in a final rule that takes effect Jan. 1 (here). Under the new regulations, domestic manufacturers and importers of softwood lumber that are 60 days late on sending their assessments must pay a late payment charge of 10% of the total due, as well as 1.5% monthly interest on the outstanding balance. AMS says about 185 domestic manufacturers and 65 importers pay assessments under the softwood lumber marketing order. Another 730 importers bring in less than the minimum amount at which marketing fees are assessed (15 million board feet/year), with 92% of all importers of softwood lumber being exempt from assessments.
The Economic and Industrial Development Commission of Windsor Locks submitted an application to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board to reorganize FTZ 71 under the Alternative Site Framework, and expand the zone to cover all of Northern and Central Connecticut. Under the reorganization, the zone's service area would cover Hartford, Middlesex, Windham, Tolland and Litchfield Counties. The proposed reorganization under the Alternative Site Framework would streamline processes for the designation of new FTZ subzones and usage driven sites within that service area by allowing companies to request zone status through the relatively simple "minor boundary modification" process. Comments on the application are due by Dec. 22.
On Oct. 17 the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:
The International Trade Commission published notices in the Oct. 20 Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent, and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will be in another ITT article):
The International Trade Commission published notices in the Oct. 17 Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent, and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will be in another ITT article):