On December 30, 2004, the Court of International Trade (CIT) issued a preliminary injunction in U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel (USA-ITA) v. Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) et al. which enjoins CITA, during the pendency of this action, from accepting, considering, or taking any further action on requests filed under CITA's textile safeguard procedures that are based on the threat of market disruption upon the elimination of quotas or safeguards on textile or apparel products from China.

In its 9th week available, 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 Dec. 26 showed. Rentrak said the title earned an additional $750,431, for a total of $9.06 million to date. Need for Speed Underground 2 for PS2 from Electronic Arts (EA) was again #2, in its 6th week ($388,681 in the week, $2.41 million to date), while Microsoft’s Xbox game Halo 2 was again #3, in its 7th week ($365,022 and $3.70 million), and the Xbox version of Underground 2 was again #4 ($249,581 and $1.51 million). EA had one other title in the top 10: Madden NFL 2005 for PS2 at #9 again, in its 20th week ($176,796 and $5.33 million). It was the only publisher with more than one title in the top 10. The only other Xbox title was LucasArts Entertainment’s Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords at #10 again, in its 3rd week ($161,801 and $404,959). Rounding out the top 10 were PS2 games: Activision’s Call of Duty: Finest Hour at #5 (up one, 6th week, $212,431 and $1.31 million), Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater at #6 (up one, 8th week, $189,336 and $1.10 million), Atari’s Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 at #7 (down 2, 5th week, $186,052 and $1.10 million) and Sony Computer Entertainment’s Killzone at #8 again, in its 8th week ($179,853 and $1.19 million).

In its 2nd week available, Fox Home Entertainment’s I, Robot was again the top-rented DVD in the U.S., Rentrak said its preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended Dec. 26 showed. Rentrak said the title earned an additional $9.1 million in DVD rentals, for a total of $21.46 million to date. In its first week available, Paramount Home Entertainment’s The Manchurian Candidate remake was #2, earning $8.91 million. Other new releases that saw strong DVD rental action in the week were Touchstone Home Entertainment’s King Arthur at #6 ($5.38 million), Fox’s comedy Napoleon Dynamite at #7 ($4.46 million) and Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment’s horror sequel Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid at #8 ($4.04 million).

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the final results of its antidumping (AD) duty administrative review of gray Portland cement and clinker from Mexico for the period of August 1, 2002 through July 31, 2003.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its final results of the antidumping (AD) duty new shipper review of petroleum wax candles from China for the review period of August 1, 2002 through July 31, 2003.

Russia’s VimpelCom said it received a preliminary notice of back-tax claim of $20.9 million for 2002. Tax authorities claim the company owes an additional $14.7 million in tax, plus $6.2 million in fines for that year. Earlier this month, Russia’s Federal Tax Service also handed the country’s 2nd largest mobile operator a tax claim for 2001, for a total of $157 million. VimpelCom said it was reviewing the preliminary conclusions in the claim for 2002 and considering whether to object to some or all of its provisions. The company also said it was “in constructive discussions” with the tax authorities regarding the preliminary conclusions of the 2001 tax review, the final decision on which hadn’t been received. It said it hadn’t been notified that a review of its 2003 tax filing had begun, but said it expected such a review to be initiated “at some point in the future.” It said it couldn’t predict the amounts that may be claimed as a result of that review.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its final results of the changed circumstances review of the AD duty order on bulk aspirin from China. In these final results, the ITA has determined to revoke the AD duty order on bulk aspirin from China, effective July 1, 2003, the earliest date for which entries of bulk aspirin have not been subject to an administrative review.

Consumer intentions to buy TV sets rose sharply in Dec. from Nov., according to preliminary data in the Conference Board’s monthly survey. Of 5,000 households polled, 8.1% said they plan to buy a TV set in the next 6 months, vs. 6.4% in Nov., 7.5% in Oct., and 7.0% in Dec. 2003. The Consumer Confidence Index, which had been on the decline since Aug., rebounded in Dec., the Conference Board said: “The continuing economic expansion, combined with job growth, has consumers ending the year on a high note. Consumers’ outlook suggests that the economy will continue to expand in the first half of the new year.”

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the final results of its antidumping (AD) duty administrative review of stainless steel sheet and strip in coils from Germany for the period of July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2003.

While HD DVD’s backers privately have doubted reports that the rival Blu-ray camp had developed a BD-ROM hybrid disc containing HD and conventional DVD content (CED Dec 27 p1), Blu-ray Johnny-Come-Lately JVC chose Christmas Eve to announce claims it had developed a triple-layered BD-ROM that marries Blu-ray HD content to a conventional dual-layer or “DVD-9” disc, thereby creating a single-inventory combo likely to please content owners, retailers and consumers. At our deadline Mon., HD DVD advocates called Blu-ray’s claim “vapor-ware,” saying it might be feasible but it’s not easily make-able and won’t arrive to market until at least a year after HD DVD’s launch.