The Court of International Trade on Oct. 24 said exporter The Ancientree Co. failed to timely raise its ministerial error allegation in an antidumping review on Chinese cabinets, finding that the company didn't file the allegation until after the final results even though the error was present in the preliminary findings. The company said its U.S. price should have been adjusted to account for an alleged subsidy it received from China's Export Buyer's Credit Program that was countervailed in the companion CVD proceeding. Judge Mark Barnett held that none of the exceptions to exhaustion applied.
The Florida Department of Health won’t pursue enforcement against TV stations for running an ad supporting a state pro-choice measure, said a DOH filing Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. However, DOH's filing said the ad relayed dangerous false information about the availability of abortions in Florida and so the First Amendment doesn't protect it. “The Constitution does not grant individuals a right to spread false information about the availability of lifesaving medical services,” said the DOH brief. In an affidavit submitted with the filing, a DOH official says the state doesn’t plan to prosecute TV stations over the ad. “The Department is currently unaware of any harm that has arisen from the airing of the ‘Caroline’ commercial,” said the statement from Cassandra Pasley, Florida DOH chief of staff. “Therefore, the Department is not moving forward with an enforcement action under these circumstances.” The stations aren’t facing the threat of enforcement and DOH never directly targeted Floridians Protecting Freedom (FPF) -- the group behind the ad and the lawsuit against Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo -- so FPF doesn’t have standing, DOH argued. Although FPF has said DOH's letters prompted one TV station to drop the ad, FPF hasn’t proven that, DOH said. The FPF ad provides false information because in it a woman says that her doctors knew that if she didn’t end her pregnancy she would die and that Florida has banned abortion in cases like hers. “Florida law expressly permits abortion when the procedure is ‘necessary to save the pregnant woman’s life,'” the DOH filing said. The ad is “an out-and-out falsehood” that could lead vulnerable women in the state to “refrain from seeking lifesaving medical treatment or attempt to obtain such treatment in more dangerous ways because of the commercial’s lies,” the DOH filings said. FPF has presented testimony from physicians in previous court filings saying that under the narrow language of Florida’s abortion laws, the person shown in the ad wouldn't have been able to get a legal abortion. She has terminal cancer and needed treatment to prolong her life, which required termination of the pregnancy. “Because Caroline’s diagnosis was terminal, neither the cancer treatment the doctors wished to provide her, nor the abortion itself, could in fact save Caroline’s life or treat an immediately emergent issue, and thus would not qualify under the narrow existing exceptions to abortion under Florida law,” FPF said. The DOH disputed FPF’s argument and said the cancer information isn't included in the ad. “The fact that an individual will eventually succumb to some other illness does not prevent a doctor in Florida from providing lifesaving care to a pregnant woman,” the DOH filing said. The court should deny the request for a preliminary injunction, but if one is granted, it should expire on Election Day, when the ballot amendment will be decided, it added.
CBP's Machinery Center of Excellence and Expertise conducted targeting efforts resulting in the seizure of infant products valued at just over $61,000 that contained high lead paint content and choking hazards, the agency announced Oct. 23. In July, the center targeted a shipment with cargo descriptions of luggage carts, metal furniture mountings and “other” seats headed for Memphis. Upon inspecting the shipment, import specialists and Port of Memphis CBP officers found the items were strollers, swings and highchairs for infants.
In remand results, the Commerce Department assigned four Mexican tomato exporters an adverse facts available dumping margin of 273.43% for a 1996 investigation that has been suspended for 22 years. The department, which resumed its inquiry in 2019, said that those exporters -- one of whom it couldn't even track down -- had failed to participate in verification to the best of their ability (Bioparques de Occidente v. U.S., CIT # 19-00204).
The Commerce Department published notices in the Federal Register Oct. 23 on the following AD/CV duty 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 Commerce Department has published the preliminary results of its antidumping duty administrative review on heavy walled rectangular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes from Mexico (A-201-847). In the final results of this review, Commerce may set assessment rates for subject merchandise from 12 companies entered September 2022 through August 2023.
The Commerce Department is amending the published final results of an antidumping duty administrative review on certain quartz surface products from India (A-533-889), based on a settlement reached Oct. 16 in a court case challenging those final results. Commerce calculated revised AD rates for the mandatory respondents, led by the Antique Group of companies, and for certain exporters that were not selected for individual examination. The new rates are applicable Oct. 23.
The Commerce Department is amending the final results of an antidumping duty administrative review on wood mouldings and millwork products from China (A-570-117) to correct a ministerial error in its calculation for the AD rate for entries of subject merchandise from one of the mandatory respondents in the review, Jinquan/Baiyuan -- consisting of Fujian Jinquan Trade Co., Ltd. and Baiyuan Wood Machining Co., Ltd. -- during the period Feb. 1, 2022, through Jan. 31, 2023.
The Commerce Department is beginning new antidumping duty investigations on hexamethylenetetramine (hexamine) from China, Germany, India and Saudi Arabia, as well as countervailing duty investigations on the same product from China and India, it said in a fact sheet Oct. 22. The underlying petition was filed in September (see 2410010045). The International Trade Commission is scheduled to make its preliminary injury determinations by Nov. 14. These AD/CVD investigations will continue only if the ITC finds injury. International Trade Today will provide more details upon publication of the initiation notices in the Federal Register.
The Commerce Department soon will suspend liquidation and impose countervailing duty cash deposit requirements on imports of disposable aluminum containers, pans, trays, and lids from China, it said in a fact sheet issued Oct. 22. Commerce set CVD rates ranging from 78.12% to 312.91% for Chinese exporters, the agency said as it announced its preliminary determinations in its ongoing CVD investigations. Suspension of liquidation and cash deposit requirements will take effect for entries on or after the date of publication of the preliminary determinations in the Federal Register, which should occur in the coming days.