The International Trade Commission (ITC) has issued a press release on its final negative antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) injury determinations stating that the U.S. industry is neither materially injured nor threatened with material injury by reason of imports of bottle-grade polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin from India, Indonesia and Thailand which the International Trade Administration (ITA) has determined are sold in the U.S. at less than fair value, or by reason of imports of bottle-grade PET resin from India which the ITA has determined are subsidized.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued its weekly quota commodity report as of April 18, 2005. This report includes tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) on various products such as beef, tuna, sugar, dairy products, peanuts, cotton, cocoa powder, tobacco, certain JFTA, NAFTA, SFTA, UAFTA and UCFTA TRQs, etc. This report also includes the AGOA, ATPDEA, CBTPA, NAFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA tariff preference levels (TPLs) for qualifying apparel and/or other textile articles, the TRQs on worsted wool fabrics, etc. (CBP's weekly quota commodity report, dated 04/18/05, available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/import/textiles_and_quotas/commodity/)
The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has previously indicated that if it imposes a safeguard quota on a China category, merged category, or part category, it will be set at a level equal to the amount entered during the first 12 months of the most recent 14 months preceding the month of implementation1, plus 7.5% (6% for wool product categories).
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the final results of its antidumping (AD) duty administrative review of honey from Argentina for the period of December 1, 2002 through November 30, 2003.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has published in the April 15, 2005 Federal Register, its antidumping (AD) duty orders on magnesium metal from China and Russia. The ITA also states that the International Trade Commission (ITC) has made a final negative critical circumstances determination with respect to subject merchandise from China (thereby reversing the ITA's affirmative critical circumstances finding).
A Nintendo of America (NOA) spokeswoman said her firm filed for a new “Punch-Out” trademark April 1 with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (CED April 14 p7) because it is “maintaining our rights in this long- standing franchise.” She said “the timing” of the renewal arose from the March release of Electronic Arts game Fight Night, which she said includes Super Punch-Out on the version for Nintendo’s GameCube. Separately, NOA said the FBI arrested 4 Chinese nationals in N.Y. for allegedly distributing videogame consoles containing Nintendo’s game software. More than 60,000 illegal products were seized by the FBI in 5 raids April 13. The illegal products, marketed under brand name “Power Player, contained “dozens of pirated versions” of popular Nintendo games including Donkey Kong, Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. During Sept.-Dec., the defendants imported 27 cargo containers holding more than 280,000 counterfeit videogame systems, according to the FBI. In meetings with undercover FBI agents posing as toy distributors, defendants revealed warehouse locations and information on distribution. Following arrests of those 4 defendants, the FBI ran searches in Queens, Brooklyn, N.Y. and Maple Shade, N.J., NOA said, calling the raids “the latest in a long line of criminal actions that Nintendo is currently supporting.” In another FBI action this month, a Minn. defendant pleaded guilty to copyright infringement; he faces up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the firm said. The firm pegged its 2004 piracy-related losses at more than $860 million. Worldwide, authorities in some 30 countries have seized 1.56 million counterfeit Nintendo products in 536 actions, Nintendo said. The firm itself has “terminated about 194,730 copies of games uploaded to the Internet and 75,452 auctions of counterfeit products.” In Oct., Nintendo won a preliminary injunction against kiosk owners in Wash. selling hardware units with built-in multiple counterfeit NES games. In China, 5 people received prison sentences and fines for manufacturing millions of counterfeit Game Boy game cartridges. NOA said the latter “breakthrough case marked the first time a counterfeiter of Nintendo products received a prison sentence in China,” once a haven for software pirates. In Taiwan, the owner-pres. and several employees of Yudian were convicted on all counts of criminal copyright and trademark offenses, Nintendo said.
Three Mich. men have been arrested for using the Internet to commit child sexual abuse, state Attorney Gen. Mike Cox said Thurs. Investigators arrested U. of Mich. medical student Brian Jespersen, 24, in Ann Arbor Mon. Jespersen was arraigned the same day on 6 counts of accosting a child for immoral purposes, a 10-year felony, and 3 counts of using a computer to distribute sexually explicit material to children, a 4-year felony. A 2nd defendant, Blaine Welmers, 53, was arraigned Tues.; he’s accused of a single count of sexually abusive activity and a count of using a computer to commit a crime, both 20-year felonies. A 3rd man, 36-year-old James Reinke, was arraigned Wed. on 7 counts of accosting a child for immoral purposes and 2 counts of disseminating sexually explicit material to children. Preliminary hearings are set for April 20. “These arrests show firsthand how Internet predators are attempting to reach our children,” Cox said: “My office will continue to pursue these criminals so that our children are safe in cyberspace.”
The International Trade Administration (ITA) frequently issues notices on antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duty orders which Broker Power considers to be "minor" in importance as they concern actions that occur after an order is issued and neither announce nor cause any changes to an order's duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective period.
Three elaborate “books” comprise the Version 0.9 draft specification released Thurs. after months of delay on the Advanced Access Content System (AACS), the copy protection guts of the next-generation HD DVD system and possibly also Blu-ray.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the final results of its antidumping (AD) duty administrative review of silicomanganese from Brazil for the period of December 1, 2002 through November 30, 2003.