The Commerce Department recognizes the name change of an Indian company for the purposes of an antidumping duty order on frozen warmwater shrimp from India (A-533-840), it said in a notice of the final results of a changed circumstances review. The agency confirmed its preliminarily finding that Kader Exports Private Limited is the successor-in-interest to Liberty Group, saying that Kader Exports continues to operate as the same business entity despite the merger and name change. Commerce said that effective Dec. 23, Kader Exports now inherits the AD rate assigned to Liberty Group, which is currently zero percent, assigned in the AD review in 2018. (See 2211080060 for a summary of the preliminary results of this changed circumstances review.)
The Commerce Department published the preliminary results of a countervailing duty administrative review of multilayered wood flooring from China (C-570-971). This review covers subject merchandise from the exporters under review entered during the period Jan. 1, 2020, through Dec. 31, 2020.
The Commerce Department published the final results of the antidumping duty administrative review on steel nails from Oman (A-523-808). These final results will be used to set final assessments of AD duties on importers for subject merchandise entered July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021.
The Commerce Department issued its final determinations in the antidumping duty investigations on steel nails from India (A-533-904), Thailand (A-549-844) and Turkey (A-489-846). Changes to cash deposit requirements set in these final determinations take effect Dec. 23, the date they are scheduled for publication in the Federal Register.
The Commerce Department issued its final determinations in the antidumping duty investigations on lemon juice from Brazil (A-351-858) and South Africa (A-791-827). Changes to cash deposit requirements set in these final determinations take effect Dec. 23, the date they are scheduled for publication in the Federal Register.
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices Dec. 221 on AD/CVD proceedings:
Lawmakers are again expressing concern about the U.S. national security review of TikTok (see 2211230033), saying they fear the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. will allow the app to continue operating in the U.S. without divesting itself from its Chinese owner Bytedance.
The Commerce Department illegally hit antidumping respondent Unicatch Industrial Co. with adverse facts available over the fact that the company did not submit a complete cost reconciliation, Unicatch and other appellants argued in a Dec. 19 opening brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Unicatch, along with TC International, Hor Liang Industrial Corp. and Romp Coil Nails Industries, argued that all the data needed to complete the cost reconciliation was on the record, meaning the respondent "could have easily completed the reconciliation in a manner required if it had realized that Commerce was not satisfied with its response" (Pro-Team Coil Nail Enterprise v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 22-2241).
Amazon will stop using non-public marketplace seller data for its retail business, among other commitments accepted Tuesday by the European Commission after an antitrust investigation. The EC in 2020 said the company's reliance on marketplace sellers' non-public business data to calibrate its retail decisions distorted fair competition on its platform and prevented effective competition. It also preliminarily decided Amazon was giving preferential treatment to its own retail business and to sellers that use its logistics and delivery services over other sellers who used Buy Box and Prime. In response, Amazon made several commitments, which the EC market-tested. Amazon then revised its proposal and agreed to commitments such as making the Buy Box offer more prominent; being more transparent with sellers and carriers about the commitments and their new rights under them; and introducing a centralized complaint mechanism for all sellers and carriers to use in case of suspected non-compliance. The EC said the final commitment would ensure the company doesn't use marketplace seller data for its own operations and that it gives non-discriminatory access to Buy Box and Prime. Amazon will be bound by several of the commitments for seven years, and by others for five years, to be monitored by an independent trustee. In case of non-compliance, the EC can, as one option, fine Amazon up to 10% of its total annual revenue without having to first find an infringement of EU antitrust rules. Amazon is pleased it has addressed the EC concerns and resolved the matters, a spokesperson emailed. "While we continue to disagree with several of the preliminary conclusions the European Commission made, we have engaged constructively to ensure that we can continue to serve customers across Europe and support the 225,000 European small and medium sized businesses selling through our stores." The European Consumer Group (BEUC) said the agreement should mean Amazon "will offer consumers greater choice on its online marketplace so that consumers can more easily shop around for the best deals." However, users will benefit only if the EC closely monitors compliance, BEUC added. Separately, the EC notified Meta Dec. 19 it tentatively concluded the company violated EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in the markets for online classified ads: "The Commission takes issue with Meta tying its online classified ads service, Facebook Marketplace, to its personal social network, Facebook." It's also concerned the company is "imposing unfair trading conditions on Facebook Marketplace's competitions for its own benefit." Meta can review the EC documents and request a hearing to present its side. The claims are "without foundation," Meta Head of EMEA Competition Tim Lamb emailed. Instead, Meta's product innovation is "pro-consumer and pro-competitive."
The Commerce Department published notices in the Federal Register Dec. 21 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):