The Court of International Trade on March 3 granted a motion for a preliminary injunction against the liquidation of unliquidated activated carbon entries from separate rate respondents Ningxia Guanghua Cherishmet Activated Carbon and Datong Municipal Yunguang Activated Carbon. Judge Mark Barnett said that he was unpersuaded by the government's claims that the PI motion illegally expands the issues in the case. Citing past CIT judgments, the judge held the enlargement concept is reserved only for cases where an intervenor adds new legal claims to those already before the court.
The Commerce Department on March 2 released the preliminary results of its antidumping duty administrative review on frozen warmwater shrimp from India (A-533-840). In the final results of this review, Commerce will set assessment rates for subject merchandise for the 187 companies under review entered February 2021 through January 2022.
The Commerce Department published notices in the Federal Register March 2 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 is setting new countervailing duty cash deposit requirements for imports of freight rail couplers from China (C-570-146), after finding illegal subsidization of Chinese producers in the preliminary determination of its CV duty investigation. Suspension of liquidation and cash deposit requirements take retroactive effect for entries on or after Dec. 3, 2022, as a result of Commerce's finding of critical circumstances for all Chinese exporters.
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices March 2 on AD/CVD proceedings:
The Commerce Department has released the final results of the antidumping duty administrative review on utility scale wind towers from South Korea (A-580-902). Commerce made some changes to the preliminary AD rate calculated for the one company under review, Dongkuk S&C Co., Ltd. This means the preliminary 2.58% AD rate for Dongkuk is lower, at 2.49% in the final results. Subject merchandise from Dongkuk entered Feb. 14, 2020, through July 31, 2021, will be assessed AD at importer-specific rates. A new 2.49% cash deposit rate for Dongkuk takes effect March 3, when the final results are set to be published in the Federal Register.
The Court of International Trade should deny a motion for a preliminary injunction by two plaintiff-intervenors because granting that injunction would expand the case beyond its original issues in violation of Supreme Court rulings, DOJ argued in its Feb. 28 response at the Court of International Trade. By requesting an injunction that covers entries not initially subject to the proceeding filed by Jilin Bright, plaintiff-intervenors seek to expand the issues covered by the proceeding, DOJ argued (Jilin Bright Future Chemicals Co. v. United States, CIT # 22-00336).
The Commerce Department has released the final results of the antidumping duty administrative review on heavy walled rectangular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes from South Korea (A-580-880). Commerce made no change to the preliminary AD rate calculated for the one company under review, calculating a 2.8% AD rate for HiSteel Co., Ltd. Subject merchandise from HiSteel entered Sept. 1, 2020, through Aug. 31, 2021, will be assessed AD at importer-specific rates. A new 2.8% cash deposit rate for HiSteel takes effect March 2, when these final results are set to be published in the Federal Register.
The Commerce Department has released the preliminary results of its antidumping duty administrative review on common alloy aluminum sheet from Slovenia (A-856-001). The agency said both companies under review, Impol d.o.o. and Impol FT, d.o.o. (collectively, Impol), made sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value during the period of review Oct. 15, 2020, through March 31, 2022, and assigned a dumping margin of 5.42%. If these preliminary results are adopted unchanged, Commerce will in its final results assess AD at importer-specific rates for subject merchandise from Impol entered Oct. 15, 2020, through March 31, 2022. A cash deposit rate of 5.42% would take effect for Impol upon publication of the final results in the Federal Register.
Sunglasses maker Blue Otter collects without consent detailed and sensitive biometric identifiers and information from customers who use its virtual try-on feature, alleged a Monday privacy class action (docket 1:23-cv-1187) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago. Plaintiff Lance Webb, a Chicago resident, used Blue Otter’s virtual try-on feature three or four times in June or July on his iPhone and iPad to see how sunglasses would look on his face but didn’t buy a product, said the complaint. The Blue Otter website has links to the try-on feature on each product page. Clicking on the link automatically activates users’ webcam or device camera so their real-time image appears immediately, the complaint said. Users can navigate to a menu of sunglasses and see what each one will look like on their face, and they can take snapshots of the virtual try-ons, which they can download or share to Facebook, it said. Blue Otter doesn’t have a publicly available written policy establishing a retention schedule or guidelines for permanently destroying biometric identifiers or biometric information obtained from consumers, as required by the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, alleged Webb. A consumer whose biometrics are compromised “has no recourse” and is at a heightened risk of identity theft, said the complaint. The plaintiff seeks preliminary and permanent injunctive and equitable relief on behalf of the class to prevent Blue Otter from continuing to collect users' face geometry through the virtual try-on feature without written release and to develop a written policy on retention and deletion of biometric information. The class action seeks awards of $1,000 per negligent violation, $5,000 per willful or reckless violation, or actual damages, whichever is more, plus reasonable attorneys’ fees and legal costs.