Venable hired Adam Hess as a partner in its Washington, D.C. office. Hess previously worked Pillsbury Winthrop as chair of the firm's intellectual property litigation practice and has much experience on Section 337 investigations at the International Trade Commission, said Venable.
Tim Warren
Timothy Warren is Executive Managing Editor of Communications Daily. He previously led the International Trade Today editorial team from the time it was purchased by Warren Communications News in 2012 through the launch of Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. Tim is a 2005 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and lives in Maryland with his wife and three kids.
The FTC and Department of Justice took to Congress July 11 to express concern about technology companies with standard-essential patents (SEPs) running to the International Trade Commission for exclusion orders. An exclusion order directs CBP to bar infringing articles from entry into the country. The DOJ Antitrust Division is particularly concerned with standard-essential patents involving mobile devices, because wireless devices depend on many standards for interoperability, he said.
In the July 5, 2012 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (Vol. 46, No. 28), CBP published two notices of its revocation of its rulings and treatment regarding the tariff classification of stacking drawers and nickel bolts.
The Committee to Support U.S. Trade Laws named Alan Price, a lawyer at Wiley Rein, as its president, replacing Gilbert Kaplan of King & Spalding. The committee works for manufacturing, technology, agriculture, mining, energy and services sectors and to make sure trade laws are not weakened through legislation or policy decisions in Congress, international negotiations or through dispute settlements at the World Trade Organization, said Wiley Rein.
The Treasury Department and CBP issued a final rule, effective July 16, which amends CBP regulations to reflect the extension of import restrictions on Pre-Classical and Classical Archaeological Objects and Byzantine Ecclesiastical and Ritual Ethnological Materials from Cyprus for an additional five years, and contains a list of articles to which the restrictions apply. The last extension in 2007 is scheduled to expire on July 16. A notice on the extension ran in the Federal Register July 13. A designated list of cultural property will be revised to include items dating from the Post-Byzantine period (c. 1500 A.D. to 1850 A.D.) The revised Designated List also clarifies that certain mosaics of stone and wall hangings (specifically, to include images of Saints among images of Christ, Archangels, and the Apostles) are covered under the import restrictions.
The House of Representatives voted to approve HR-4402, The National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act, meant to lessen duplicative reviews, frivolous lawsuits and onerous regulations that can hold up U.S. mining projects for more than a decade. The bill is also hoped to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign countries for raw mineral ingredients.
This summary report highlights the most active textile and apparel tariff preference levels from CBP’s July 9 “Quota Weekly Commodity Status Report.” It also lists the TRQ commodities on CBP’s weekly July 9, 2012 “TRQ/TPL Threshold to Fill List.”1
U.S. Senators Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) continued their push against the ongoing miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB) process, moving to add their MTB reform bill as an amendment to small business tax legislation. The tax bill (S-2237) is scheduled for consideration by the Senate July 12. The House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees have said they will continue work to finish the MTB.
The U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel (USA-ITA) asked its members to take part in an industry survey to help CBP prepare for a Center of Excellence & Expertise for Textile, Wearing Apparel & Footwear companies. USA-ITA is part of the Industry Working Group, along with other textile, apparel, footwear, and retail industry associations, to develop the objectives for the CEE, said USA-ITA. CBP is seeking industry feedback on the CEEs this summer. A survey for USA-ITA members is (here).
CBP officers at Miami International Airport seized 0.25 Kg of Heroin found in a cargo of flowers, the agency said. The seizure took place during a routine examination of cargo coming from Bogota, Colombia, during which CBP officers saw a cylinder shaped object hidden among carnations. A closer examination of the cylinder by CBP officers revealed the presence of a brown powdering substance which later tested positive for Heroin. There were no arrests in connection with this seizure as CBP did not find a link between the shipper or the importer and the drugs, said CBP.