Two Israeli citizens pleaded guilty and were sentenced for smuggling counterfeit and misbranded pharmaceuticals into the U.S., including the erectile dysfunction drug marketed as Cialis, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Brian Feito
Brian Feito is Managing Editor of International Trade Today, Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. A licensed customs broker who spent time at the Department of Commerce calculating antidumping and countervailing duties, Brian covers a wide range of subjects including customs and trade-facing product regulation, the courts, antidumping and countervailing duties and Mexico and the European Union. Brian is a graduate of the University of Florida and George Mason University. He joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2012.
The U.S. said it was deeply troubled by what it described as lack of due process in China’s antidumping actions, and in particular the imposition last December of AD measures on imports of some $3 billion worth of U.S. automobiles, at a meeting of the World Trade Organization’s Meeting on Anti-Dumping Practices on April 23. The U.S. also said it was concerned on Mexican AD rate calculations, while Japan questioned 4 U.S. AD measures on Japanese products.
Mexico's Diario Oficial of April 25, 2012, lists notices from the Secretary of the Economy as follows:
Two Baltimore warehouse owners pleaded guilty to conspiring to transport stolen nickel briquettes stored next to their warehouse, which had been imported through the Port of Baltimore, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Gregg Lee Purbaugh, 50, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty Monday and his business partner, Kenneth Trainum, 44, also of Baltimore, pleaded guilty April 20. Purbaugh and Trainum, owners of Bear Creek Warehouse Company, each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service said the Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) is meeting April 23-28 in Shanghai. The Committee is considering proposed maximum residue limits, revision of the Codex Classification, etc. Details follow:
The Census Bureau announced that preliminary March steel imports were $3 billion (2.6 million metric tons compared to the preliminary February totals of $2.8 billion (2.4 million metric tons). According to Census, the March change in steel imports based on metric tonnage reflected an increase primarily in blooms, billets and slabs. An increase occurred primarily with Mexico; a decrease occurred primarily with India.
China's rare earth industry regulations are designed to protect the environment and sustain growth, said Zhu Hongren of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, according to a report by the official news agency Xinhua. Xinhua said Hongren pledged to actively respond to a request for consultations by the U.S., Japan, and the European Union at the World Trade Organization, and asserted that China’s measures to regulate its rare earth industry, including production caps, export quota cuts and stricter emission standards, are in line with WTO rules.
On April 24, 2012, the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a Temporary Denial Order (TDO) against Sayegh Group Aviation; Aban Air; Sam Air Corporation Limited; Aviation Legacy (Gambia) Limited; Abdullah Khaled Ramadan; Ali Mahdavi; and Mahmoud Khali Hamze (aka Mahmoud Khalil aka Mahmoud Hamza Khalil), temporarily denying their export privileges for 180 days.for reexport or intended reexport of three U.S.-origin Boeing 747 planes to Iran.
The International Trade Commission is publishing notices in the April 24, 2012, Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent, and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will appear in another ITT article):