The International Trade Administration issued the final results of its administrative review of the antidumping duty order on wooden bedroom furniture from China (A-570-890). The ITA reconsidered its preliminary results, and rescinded this review for the only separate-rate respondent, Tube-Smith.1 The ITA assigned the China-wide entity an AD rate of 216.01%. This rate, which is effective Aug. 27, is expected to be implemented by CBP soon.
The International Trade Administration preliminarily determined that critical circumstances exist for imports subject to the antidumping duty investigation on steel wire garment hangers from Vietnam (A-552-812) for all respondents, which include the TJ Group1, the separate rate respondents,2 and the Vietnam-wide entity. The ITA found (i) sales at less than fair value and (ii) massive imports in a relatively short period of time.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices for Aug. 17. (Note that some may also be given separate headlines.)
The International Trade Administration published notices in the Aug. 21 Federal Register on the following AD/CV proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The International Trade Administration issued the preliminary results of its administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain small diameter carbon and alloy seamless standard, line and pressure pipe from Romania (A-485-805) for one company, finding an AD rate of zero for ArcelorMittal Tubular Products Roman S.A. These preliminary results are not in effect. The ITA may modify them in the final results of this review and change the estimated AD cash deposit rate for this company.
The $10 million “cy pres” payment in a recent Facebook settlement may not be “fair, adequate, and reasonable,” a U.S. District Court in San Francisco said last week. The cy pres doctrine is designed to figure out how to distribute class action settlement money not claimed by class members. In a ruling filed Friday, Judge Richard Seeborg questioned the settlement reached earlier this year by a group of Facebook users and the social media website (WID June 25 p7) over a class-action lawsuit that said Facebook was profiting from ads that included users’ likenesses without their knowledge or permission. Specifically, Seeborg took issue with the cy pres payment of $10 million that Facebook will be making “to certain organizations involved with internet privacy issues” and the up to $10 million in attorney fee awards that the plaintiffs may apply for. In addition to questioning whether the large class size is enough to justify a cy pres payment rather than awarding statutory damages to the individuals whose likenesses were used in the ads, Seeborg questioned the adequacy of the cy pres payment itself. “At oral arguments, plaintiffs seemed to suggest that the cy pres payment is relatively unimportant, given the primary purpose of their action from the outset: to compel Facebook to change its practices prospectively,” he wrote. “The cy pres payment is compensation for past alleged wrongdoing,” the ruling said, and should be seen as an added bonus to compelling Facebook to change their practices. He asked that the plaintiffs “show that the cy pres payment represents a reasonable settlement of past damages claims, and that it was not merely plucked from thin air.” Moving forward, Seeborg wrote, “the parties may elect to negotiate for modifications to their agreement, or plaintiffs may present a renewed motion for preliminary approval of the existing agreement, with additional evidentiary and/or legal support directed at ameliorating the listed concerns.” “We continue to believe the settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate,” a Facebook spokesman said in an email. “We appreciate the court’s guidance and look forward to addressing the questions raised in the order. We are confident we can address the issues raised by the court without substantially revising the settlement.”
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices for Aug. 20. (Note that some may also be given separate headlines.)
Blends of honey and rice syrup fall within the scope of the antidumping duty order on honey from China (A-570-863), the International Trade Administration said in its final affirmative determination of circumvention. The ITA said it received no comments on its preliminary determination, and so adopted it unchanged as final.
The International Trade Administration initiated a changed circumstances review to determine whether to terminate the suspension agreement and antidumping investigation of fresh tomatoes from Mexico (A-201-820) in response to a request by the domestic U.S. industry. Mexican tomato growers are opposing the request. According to the Florida Tomato Exchange, termination of the AD investigation would allow domestic industry to file a new petition for an AD investigation. Comments on the ITA's investigation are due by Sept. 4.
The International Trade Administration issued its quarterly list of (i) completed antidumping and countervailing duty scope rulings and (ii) anticircumvention determinations.