The Commerce Department is beginning antidumping duty new shipper reviews on freshwater crawfish tail meat from China (A-570-848) (here), after receiving requests from three companies: Wuhan Coland Aquatic Products and Food Co., Ltd.; Weishan Hongda Aquatic Food Co., Ltd.; and Hubei Yuesheng Aquatic Products Co., Ltd. Each review will apply to merchandise both produced and exported by each respective company. Commerce will determine if Wuhan Coland, Weishan Hongda, and Hubei Yuesheng are independent from state control, and therefore eligible for an estimated AD cash deposit rate other than the 223.01% China-wide rate they currently receive.
The Commerce Department issued the final results of the antidumping duty administrative review on glycine from China (A-570-836) (here), assigning Fine Chemical the 435.79% China-wide rate. Rates for all other Chinese glycine exporters remain unchanged. These final results will be used to set assessments of AD duties on importers for entries between March 1, 2012 and Feb. 28, 2013.
The Commerce Department will not yet require countervailing duty cash deposits on imports of steel nails from South Korea, Malaysia, Oman and Taiwan, finding no illegal subsidization of imports from the four countries in a preliminary determination announced Oct. 28 (here). The agency did find illegal subsidizes for some imports from Vietnam, and will require CV duty cash deposits at 8.35% on subject merchandise from all exporters except United Nail Products. The new cash deposit requirements for Vietnam will take effect upon publication of Commerce’s preliminary determination in the Federal Register. Commerce may still set CV duties on steel nails from South Korea, Malaysia, Oman and Taiwan in its final determination, currently set for March 2015.
U.S. District Court Judge Alison Nathan’s ruling slapping a nationwide preliminary injunction on Aereo (see 1410230060) could lead to more litigation for the streaming service, said Fletcher Heald First Amendment attorney Kevin Goldberg in a blog post Wednesday. Aereo could appeal the portion of the injunction limiting it to broadcasting time-delayed content, or broadcasters could appeal that the injunction allows Aereo to provide some form of streaming service. “A time-delayed Aereo is still a competitor in many ways,” said Goldberg. Either side of the case could also choose to let the matter be decided on the merits. “This obviously suits the broadcasters to some extent, since Aereo may not be as attractive to potential subscribers without the live viewing function,” Goldberg said. NAB and Aereo did not comment.
The new iPad Air 2 has a design and feature set that’s "only incrementally different" from the original iPad Air, so it carries "a nearly identical hardware cost as its predecessor," IHS said Wednesday in a teardown analysis. The 16-GB Wi-Fi-only version of the iPad Air 2 has a $270 bill of materials, IHS said its preliminary estimate found. When the $5 manufacturing cost is added, the cost rises to $275, it said. That’s compared with the $269 BOM for the 16-GB version of the original iPad Air, based on an IHS analysis done a year ago when that tablet was introduced, it said. "Although the profit margin appears to be the same for Apple at the low end of the iPad Air 2 line, the product produces lower gross margins for Apple at the high end with 64GB and 128GB worth of NAND flash," IHS said. "This is because the 64-GB and 128-GB models of iPad Air 2 are selling at the same price point as the original iPad Air 32-GB and 64-GB models. The additional cost of memory trims the estimated margins slightly."
U.S. District Court Judge Alison Nathan’s ruling slapping a nationwide preliminary injunction on Aereo (see 1410230060) could lead to more litigation for the streaming service, said Fletcher Heald First Amendment attorney Kevin Goldberg in a blog post Wednesday. Aereo could appeal the portion of the injunction limiting it to broadcasting time-delayed content, or broadcasters could appeal that the injunction allows Aereo to provide some form of streaming service. “A time-delayed Aereo is still a competitor in many ways,” said Goldberg. Either side of the case could also choose to let the matter be decided on the merits. “This obviously suits the broadcasters to some extent, since Aereo may not be as attractive to potential subscribers without the live viewing function,” Goldberg said. NAB and Aereo did not comment.
Mexican sugar exporters and the U.S. industry have reached a tentative deal to avoid antidumping and countervailing duties on sugar from Mexico, said the Commerce Department on Oct. 27. Under a preliminary agreement to suspend the ongoing antidumping and countervailing investigations, Mexican sugar exporters would limit the amount of sugar they ship to the U.S., and abide by minimum prices, said Commerce. The announcement came on the same day that Commerce reached its preliminary determination in the AD duty investigation, deciding to require AD duty cash deposits ranging from 39.54% to 47.26% (here). The agency set CV duty cash deposit requirements at 2.99% to 17.01% in September (see 14082919). If the suspension agreements are finalized, the U.S. will suspend its AD/CV duty investigations, end cash deposit requirements, and refund any cash deposits already collected.
The Commerce Department issued the final results of the antidumping duty administrative review on stainless steel plate in coils from Belgium (A-423-808) (here). These final results will be used to set final assessments of AD duties on importers for entries between May 2012 and April 2013.
The International Trade Commission is asking for comments on whether it should keep in place six exclusion orders against decades-old toys and arcade games like Rubik’s Cube and Pac-Man. According to the ITC notice, U.S. Customs and Border Protection says the six import bans “may be candidates for rescission” because of changed conditions. “CBP’s preliminary investigation has indicated that the trademarks or trade dress at issue in the exclusion orders are no longer used in commerce or complainant has stopped making required compliance filings,” says the ITC notice. Under examination are exclusion orders issued in 1979 on novelty drinking glasses (337-TA-055); in 1981 on coin-operated arcade games that infringe trademarks held by Midway; in 1982 on other Midway arcade games, including Rally-X and Pac-Man; in 1982 on cube puzzles, including Rubik’s Cube; in 1989 on strip lights; and in 1990 on novelty teleidoscopes, which are a kind of kaleidoscope that have an open view and are used to create kaleidoscopic patterns from outside objects instead of items in the tube itself. More information on each investigation is available in a spreadsheet kept by the ITC on Section 337 investigations begun before 2008 (here). The ITC is asking for comments on the Section 337 cases, on whether the exclusion orders should be terminated based on changed conditions or the public interest. Comments are due by Dec. 22.
The Commerce Department issued the final results of the antidumping duty administrative review on circular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes from Thailand (A-549-502) (here). Commerce determined Saha Thai Steel Pipe (Public) Company, Ltd. did not undersell subject merchandise during the period of review, assigning the company a zero percent AD duty rate. Subject merchandise from Saha Thai entered between March 1, 2012 and Feb. 28, 2013 will be liquidated without any assessment of AD duties, and future entries of circular welded pipe exported by Saha Thai will not be subject to AD duty cash deposit requirements until further notice. The new AD duty cash deposit rate takes effect Oct. 28.