The Philippines opened a safeguard investigation on corrugating medium, a component of some cardboard types, on Feb. 13, the World Trade Organization announced. The Philippines said that interested parties should submit comments on the investigation to the Bureau of Import Services within five days of the publication of its notice, i.e., Feb. 18.
DOJ charged an Ohio-based subsidiary of a Russian aircraft parts supplier and three of its current and former employees with illegally exporting aircraft parts from the U.S. to Russia and Russian airline companies, DOJ announced.
The U.S. defended its designation of Chinese lidar company Hesai Technology as a "Chinese military company" in a Feb. 12 brief at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, responding to a host of arguments from Hesai claiming that the designation wasn't backed by substantial evidence and committed various legal errors (Hesai Technology Co. v. United States, D.D.C. # 24-01381).
Abby Kohlman, former DOJ prosecutor in the fraud section, has rejoined Akin Gump as senior counsel in the white collar defense and government investigations practice, the firm announced. At DOJ, Kohlman also served as special counsel for the Office of Legislative Affairs. Kohlman's practice will focus on advising clients on congressional investigations and other government inquiries, including those related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
President Donald Trump's recent executive order halting prosecutions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act likely won't change the behavior of many companies, given the risk of prosecution globally or in the U.S. after Trump leaves office, lawyers said.
The European Commission on Feb. 11 imposed antidumping duties on biodiesel from China following an investigation showing that Chinese biodiesel is harming the EU industry. The duties range from 10% to 35.6% but exclude imports of aviation biofuels known as Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
President Donald Trump on Feb. 10 instructed the attorney general to cease from opening any new investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for 180 days so that the Office of the Attorney General can issue new guidelines for FCPA enforcement that "prioritize American interests" and U.S. "economic competitiveness." In the order, Trump said the FCPA has been "abused" and "impedes the United States' foreign policy objectives."
The U.K. extended the antidumping and countervailing duties on folding e-bikes from China for another five years, so they are applied until January 2029, the Department for International Trade announced. The department chose to extend the duties only on folding e-bikes, despite the original duties applying to all e-bikes from China. The antidumping duties range from 10.3% to 70.1%, and include a 62.1% margin for all non-individually examined exporters. The countervailing duties range from 3.9% to 17.2%, and include a 17.2% rate for all non-individually examined exporters.
Authorities in the Dominican Republic seized an aircraft used by sanctioned Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA) at the request of the U.S. government due to alleged sanctions and export control violations, DOJ announced.
A World Trade Organization dispute panel issued its report in Vietnam's challenge to U.S. antidumping duty proceedings on fish fillets from Vietnam after both sides agreed to a solution (see 2501230022). The panel concluded the proceeding in light of the "mutually agreed solution." Vietnam brought the suit in 2018 to challenge the U.S. government's imposition of AD cash deposit requirements in the fifth, sixth and seventh reviews of the AD order, covering entries in 2007-2010. Vietnam claimed that the U.S. should have revoked the order following the seventh review and that the U.S. unlawfully used a country-wide AD rate based on adverse facts available against respondents that were not individually investigated.