The International Trade Administration has issued its preliminary results of the following antidumping duty administrative and new shipper reviews:

The lack of a new Grand Theft Auto game again took a toll on Take-Two Interactive in Q3 ended July 31, as it swung to a $55.5 million loss, 72 cents per share, from a $51.8 million, 67 cents, profit in Q3 last year. But the loss was smaller than expected, and Take-Two said it settled a class- action suit by shareholders in exchange for a payment of $20.1 million.

The DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports that trade using surface transportation between the U.S. and its North American Free Trade Agreement partners Canada and Mexico was 31.5 percent lower in June 2009 than in June 2008, dropping to $50.8 billion in the sixth consecutive month with a year-to-year decline of greater than 27 percent. (Press Release, dated 08/31/09, available at http://www.bts.gov/press_releases/2009/bts041_09/html/bts041_09.html)

The International Trade Administration has issued the final results of administrative reviews for ball bearings and parts thereof from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom for the period May 1, 2007 through April 30, 2008.

In a final report to the Missouri Legislature delivered Thursday, the state public service commission stuck closely to preliminary conclusions about the impact of the state’s 2007 Video Services Providers Act. The commission was able to arrive at “limited findings” about the law’s impact, based on industry data, the regulator said. They include a tally of 27 entities providing video service through 656 state franchises as of June 1. Those franchises “correspond to 486 distinct political subdivisions or 45 percent of all political subdivisions in Missouri,” the regulator said. As of June 1, video service was not being provided in 56 franchise areas. Among franchise areas, 320 had competition from wireline video service, while 336 did not, it said. Franchise holders spent more than $123 million providing video service in the state in the 12 months preceding Thursday, the commission said. In that period, holders paid nearly $24 million in franchise fees to political subdivisions, it said. Based on its analysis, the commission does not recommend that legislators revisit the law, it said. However, if the Legislature does so, it should provide the commission with guidance on the content to appear in future reports, require video providers to maintain and produce certain information for use in those reports, kill a requirement that the commission post franchise fees and order that, if a franchise for a given area is not exercised within “a reasonable time period,” it be deemed null and void, the commission said.

CEA concedes that filing a lawsuit to block New York City from enforcing its e-waste law (CED July 27 p1) froze any chance of the dialog it seeks with the city to improve the program for manufacturers, said Parker Brugge, the association’s vice president for environmental affairs and industry sustainability. But “given the July 31 deadline for submitting plans” to the city on e-waste collections, “coupled with the enormous fees associated with not filing the plans, we were left with no option but to file the lawsuit,” he said. “We continue to be open and available to discuss with the city a more reasonable and effective recycling solution for New York City residents.” The suit has achieved CEA’s goal of blocking enforcement of the law: The city Department of Sanitation has agreed not to crack down on manufacturers that don’t file collection plans for at least 30 days after any rejection of CEA’s motion for a preliminary injunction. With a court hearing put off at least a month from the scheduled Oct. 23 date, collection plans probably won’t have to be filed until well into December if a judge denies the manufacturers’ motion. But the companies still would need to file their plans at the peak of the holiday selling season or risk fines of $1,000 a day. Asked whether manufacturers are preparing for that possibility, Brugge said CEA is “confident that the court will find various provisions of the New York City e-waste law and regulations unconstitutional,” as the association’s July 24 complaint contended. “However, in the event the industry is required to develop plans in accordance with the existing or modified law and regulations, our member companies are prepared to comply, albeit at a significant cost and impact to the environment.”

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is issuing a final rule, effective August 26, 2009, on its determinations that certain materials (such as certain paper, wood, ink, textiles) do not exceed the lead content limits specified in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. (See ITT's Online Archives or 08/21/09 news, 09082110, for BP summary detailing the final rule.)(FR Pub 08/26/09, available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-20589.pdf)

The International Trade Administration frequently issues notices on antidumping and countervailing duty orders, investigations, etc. which Broker Power considers to be "minor" in importance as they concern actions that occur after an order is issued, neither announce nor cause any changes to an order's duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective period, etc.

The International Trade Administration has initiated new shipper reviews for the antidumping duty order on wooden bedroom furniture from China with respect to the following exporter/producer combinations and review period:

The International Trade Administration has issued a notice that it is postponing the preliminary determination in the antidumping duty investigation of oil country tubular goods from China.