Take-Two Interactive’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for PS2 was again the top-rented videogame in the U.S., Rentrak said its preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended Jan. 5 showed. Rentrak said the game, in its 10th week, earned an additional $634,463, for $9.69 million total. The PS2 version of Need for Speed Underground 2 from Electronic Arts (EA), in its 7th week, was again #2 ($367,807 in the week and $2.78 million to date), while Microsoft’s Xbox game sequel Halo 2, in its 8th week, was again #3 ($329,205 and $4.02 million), the Xbox version of Need was again #4 ($243,131 and $1.76 million) and Activision’s Call of Duty: Finest Hour for PS2, in its 7th week, was again #5 ($199,912 and $1.51 million). The Xbox version of the latter was #10 ($151,405 and $1.08 million). Activision and EA were the only publishers with more than one top 10 SKU. Rounding out the top 10 were Sony Computer Entertainment’s Killzone for PS2 at #6 (up 2 in its 9th week, $169,478 and $1.36 million), LucasArts Entertainment’s Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords at #7 (up 3 in its 4th week, $161,025 and $565,984), Atari’s Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 at #8 (down one in its 6th week, $156,332 and $1.25 million) and Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater at #9 (down 3 in its 9th week, $155,608 and $1.25 million).

Its first week available, Universal’s comedy Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy was the top-rented DVD in the U.S., Rentrak said its preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended Jan. 5 showed. Rentrak said the DVD earned $8.34 million in revenue. Fox’s I, Robot -- last week’s #1 DVD -- dropped to #2, earning an additional $7.77 million, for $29.23 million to date. The only other new DVD releases in the top 10 were Lions Gate Home Entertainment’s thriller Open Water at $4 ($6.19 million) and Columbia TriStar’s Resident Evil: Apocalypse at #6 ($5.87 million).

The ITA states that Qingdao Xiyuan failed to permit verification of its questionnaire responses and therefore did not establish its entitlement to a separate rate. As a result, the ITA is rescinding this AD duty new shipper review.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has both initiated and issued its preliminary results of the antidumping (AD) duty changed circumstances review of certain corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products from Japan.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice announcing that it is initiating a changed circumstances review of the antidumping (AD) duty order on brake rotors from China.

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.

In its final determination, the ITA states that it has determined to exclude five specific models of powerheads from the scope of the investigation. (The scope exclusionary language describes the specific characteristics of these five models, but does not give model numbers, manufacturers, etc.)

The ITA states that for Qingyuan and Huamei, it will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to allow, at the option of the importer, the posting of a bond or security in lieu of an AD cash deposit for entries of the subject merchandise both produced and exported by these companies until the completion of the new shipper reviews.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced a preliminary "low duty" tariff rate quota (TRQ) limit of 19,289,046 kg. for tuna and skipjack, in airtight containers, not in oil, in containers weighing with their contents not over 7 kg. each, for the January 1, 2005 through December 31, 2005 period.

The Tex. PUC hopes to persuade the 2005 legislature to give it more power to enforce its rules. The PUC, in a preliminary report to the legislature, said the current $5,000 cap on fines for rule violations such as slamming and cramming isn’t enough of a deterrent. It wants the cap raised to at least $25,000 per offense. The PUC also wants the flexibility to impose penalties even if the company corrected the immediate cause of complaints. Currently, the PUC can’t impose fines or other administrative penalties if a company corrects a problem within 30 days. The PUC may have a chance to win this change because the current state telecom act is to sunset this year and the legislature could use this as an opportunity to address the PUC’s authority and powers.