Domestic manufacturers challenged the determination by the International Trade Commission that the wire decking industry was not injured or threatened by imports from China from 2006 to 2009, during a contracting U.S. building market. In its preliminary finding, the ITC found “a causal nexus between the subject imports and the deteriorating condition of the domestic industry,” but later the Commission concluded the industry’s difficulties were due to other economic factors, notably declining demand and the availability of substitute products. Two ITC Commissioners dissented, arguing that the U.S. industry was being injured by Chinese imports. However, the Court of International Trade upheld the ITC’s majority determination, finding that in the face of credible evidence on both sides of the issue, the agency’s analysis was not unreasonable. (Slip Op 11-81, dated 07/12/11, public version posted subsequently)
The U.S. Ambassador to the World Trade Organization Punke has issued a statement to the WTO Trade Negotiations Committee on the apparent collapse of the attempt to reach an "Early Harvest" Doha Round agreement by December 2011 on a preliminary set of issues, mostly involving least developed countries. He said that the U.S. would agree to "keep trying" if it saw some prospect that entrenched positions would change -- but it does not. Punke added that members should begin a new process of facing up to the situation as it exists, and planning a realistic path forward.
The International Trade Administration has issued the final results of the first antidumping duty administrative review of circular welded austenitic stainless pressure pipe from China (A-570-930) for the sole respondent, Zhejiang Jiuli Hi-Tech Metals Co., Ltd./Huzhou Jiuli Welded Stainless Steel Pipe Co., Ltd., which sets a zero AD cash deposit rate for the entity. This rate, which is officially effective July 22, 2011, is expected to be implemented by CBP soon.
Comcast stepped up lobbying against a draft program carriage rule to make cable operators keep distributing independent channels while indies’ complaints are pending at the FCC. Lobbying last week at the offices of Chairman Julius Genachowski and Commissioner Robert McDowell came as the Republican is the only FCC member not to have voted on a draft Media Bureau order and further rulemaking notice. He’s concerned that the agency may violate the Administrative Procedure Act by issuing standstill rules before seeking specific comment on them (CD July 25 p8). The agency’s approach to the standstill requirement “is out of step with its general interest in engaging in predictable and orderly rulemaking,” Comcast Senior Vice President Kathy Zachem reported telling FCC Chief of Staff Eddie Lazarus.
The International Trade Administration is publishing notices in the Federal Register on the following AD/CV proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, the scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The author of a watered-down San Francisco cellphone-radiation measure predicted passage after an 11-0 preliminary vote in favor. A final decision scheduled for the Board of Supervisors’ next meeting, Tuesday, is “more perfunctory,” because no changes are planned from the version of the proposed ordinance endorsed on a first vote at this week’s meeting, Erica Maybaum, an aide to the author, Supervisor John Avalos, said Wednesday. The proposed ordinance would require retailers to give shoppers information about radiofrequency radiation and how to minimize it and by giving a city fact sheet to purchasers and anyone who asks for it. The requirement would replace one for disclosure of the “specific absorption rate” of each handset offered (CD June 17/10 p7). The city put that on hold in the face of a legal challenge and convention boycott threat by CTIA. Vice President John Walls of the association denounced the new measure as “an unnecessary yet harmful ordinance that potential opens mom-and-pop cellphone retailers to civil liability for forgetting to distribute a mandate brochure.” The requirement “misleads consumers by creating a negative perception of a product that already complies with federal standards and is deemed … safe by the FCC and FDA,” he said. CTIA’s lawsuit is on hold and “if the ordinance becomes law, we will decide how to proceed,” a spokeswoman said.
Online DVD streaming service Zediva wants a slower discovery and trial schedule than the movie studios who sued it for violating their copyright, documents filed Monday with a federal court in California show. The court is set to hear arguments Monday on the studio’s motion for an injunction on Zediva’s service, which allows a user to rent DVDs and then remotely stream them from Zediva’s facilities. The studios want discovery to end five months after a court order on the injunction motion; Zediva wants that deadline set 12 months from the court’s injunction ruling. The parties also expect to file cross motions for summary judgment following the ruling on the preliminary injunction, the court documents said.
Online DVD streaming service Zediva wants a slower discovery and trial schedule than the movie studios who sued it for violating their copyright, documents filed Monday with a federal court in California show. The court is set to hear arguments Monday on the studio’s motion for an injunction on Zediva’s service, which allows a user to rent DVDs and then remotely stream them from Zediva’s facilities (WID April 5 p10). The studios want discovery to end five months after a court order on the injunction motion; Zediva wants that deadline set 12 months from the court’s injunction ruling. The parties also expect to file cross motions for summary judgment following the ruling on the preliminary injunction, the court documents said.
Online DVD streaming service Zediva wants a slower discovery and trial schedule than the movie studios who sued it for violating their copyright, documents filed Monday with a federal court in California show. The court is set to hear arguments Monday on the studio’s motion for an injunction on Zediva’s service, which allows a user to rent DVDs and then remotely stream them from Zediva’s facilities. The studios want discovery to end five months after a court order on the injunction motion; Zediva wants that deadline set 12 months from the court’s injunction ruling. The parties also expect to file cross motions for summary judgment following the ruling on the preliminary injunction, the court documents said.
The International Trade Administration is publishing notices in the Federal Register on the following AD/CV proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, the scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):