The Colo. PUC said its review of state phone deregulation laws shows that if it deregulated any Qwest retail service, it must deregulate the service for all other providers operating in Qwest’s service area. Qwest has proposed replacing its present price cap system with a plan that would leave residential basic exchange under a state-mandated cap but deregulate rates and end service quality regulation for all other retail residential and business services. In a preliminary declaratory order, the PUC said state law confers authority to deregulate services, not providers. For instance, if Qwest’s request for statewide deregulation of its retail long distance were granted, that would automatically deregulate all other long distance providers, which the PUC said would directly affect the non-Qwest customers. Parties planning to intervene in the proceeding (Case 04A-411T) must register by Nov. 10. A prehearing procedural conference is set Nov. 23.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its final results of the antidumping (AD) duty new shipper review of certain preserved mushrooms from China for the period of February 1, 2003 through July 31, 2003.
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.
The ITA states that it will apply the bonding option under 19 CFR 351.107(b)(1)(i) only to entries of subject merchandise from these two exporters for which the respective producers under review are the suppliers1.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its final results of the antidumping (AD) duty new shipper review of honey from China for the review period of December 1, 2002 through May 31, 2003.
Ultimate Electronics sales fell 1.7% for the 3rd quarter ended Oct. 31 to $159.7 million on an 8% same- store sales decrease, the chain said Thurs. It said the figures were preliminary and subject to adjustment. CEO Dave Workman said the same-store sales decline could be blamed on “traffic and execution issues” that contributed to a weak start to the quarter, but performance improved significantly in Sept. and Oct. He said Ultimate believed “turnaround initiatives” launched earlier in the year were beginning to bear fruit, “and we look forward to continued improvement as we gear up for a successful holiday selling season.” Ultimate has set the release of 3rd-quarter results Dec. 2.
Despite 2 strong new releases, Fox’s The Day After Tomorrow held on to its #1 position on the U.S. DVD rental chart, Rentrak said its preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended Oct. 31 showed. Rentrak said the disaster movie, in its 3rd week, earned an additional $6.49 million on DVD in the week, for $25.24 million to date. In their first week available, Universal’s Dawn of the Dead remake ($6.28 million in the week, $6.36 million to date) and Columbia TriStar’s comedy White Chicks ($5.90 million and $5.98 million) were #2 and #3.
As expected, Take-Two Interactive’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for PS2 was the #1-rented videogame in the U.S. its first week available. Rentrak said its preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended Oct. 31 showed that the game earned $1.63 million in rentals -- the most any game had ever made its first week. The title even “outperformed the weekly earnings of the top 10 renting VHS titles” in the week, Rentrak said. Calling the “earning power” of the Grand Theft Auto franchise “a true phenomenon,” Rentrak Home Video Essentials Vp-Business Development Brad Hackley said Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City -- the previous 2 entries in the series -- had “grossed more than $45 million in rental revenue to date” on PS2 and Xbox. San Andreas far outperformed every other game in the week, earning 4 times as much as the #2-rented title, Midway’s Mortal Kombat: Deception on PS2 (an additional $329,074 in its 4th week, for $1.45 million to date). The Xbox version of the latter was #5 (up one, earning an additional $228,659 in the week, $999,486 to date). LucasArts Entertainment also had 2 SKUs in the top 10: Star Wars: Battlefront for PS2 at #4 (down one in its 6th week, $235,625 and $2.06 million) and the Xbox version at #8 (up 2, $176,939 and $1.43 million). But Electronic Arts had the most top 10 games -- 3 -- all for PS2: Madden NFL 2002 at #6 (down 2 in its 12th week, $200,867 and $4.39 million), Def Jam: Fight for N.Y. at #7 (down 2 in its 6th week, $179,997 and $1.78 million) and NCAA Football 2005 at #10 (up one in its 16th week, $174,057 and $4.17 million). Rounding out the top 10 were Activision’s Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 for PS2 at #3 (down 2 in its 4th week, $320,247 and $1.55 million) and Microsoft’s Xbox game Fable at #9 again in its 7th week ($175,441 and $1.52 million).
Amended Preliminary AD Duty Determination
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has initiated a new shipper review for the antidumping (AD) duty order on hot-rolled flat-rolled carbon quality steel products from Brazil with respect to the following company, as both exporter and producer, and review period: