On July 27, 2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged London-based Diageo plc, one of the world’s largest producers of premium alcoholic beverages, with widespread violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) stemming from more than six years of improper payments to government officials in India, Thailand, and South Korea. Diageo agreed to pay more than $16 million to settle the SEC’s charges.

Five Chinese producer/exporters challenged the final results of the International Trade Administration’s Second Remand Determination in the November 2002 -- October 2003 AD administrative review of fresh garlic from China, contesting the agency’s wage rate calculation and packaging materials values. The ITA also requested a voluntary remand to recalculate the labor wage rate. The Court of International Trade ordered the ITA to revisit its valuations of the labor rate, and ordered the agency to reconsider its insistence on using “admittedly non-representative” published Indian import values for packing materials (cardboard cartons, plastic jars and plastic jar lids), rather than documented price quotes from Indian vendors for comparable items. (Slip Op. 11-88, dated 07/22/11)

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 Fish and Wildlife Service and Justice Department report that the owner of a Philadelphia African art store, Victor Gordon, has been arrested on charges of conspiracy, smuggling, and Lacey Act violations related to the illegal importation and sale of African elephant ivory.

On July 12, 2011, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced that a New Jersey-based defense contracting company, Swiss Technology, Inc., has pleaded guilty to exporting Department of Defense drawings and specifications to China, in violation of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA).

Chinese producers and exporters challenged the International Trade Commission’s finding of material injury to the domestic industry as a result of a “large and increasing volume of subject imports” and a “cost-price squeeze,” in the investigation of citric acid and certain citrate salts from Canada and China. The Court of International Trade found the ITC’s findings were supported by substantial evidence and affirmed the Commission’s final determination. (Slip Op. 11-53, dated 05/11/11, public version posted subsequently.)

Italian producer Garofalo S.p.A. challenged the International Trade Administration’s use of quarterly, or three-month, periods for cost averaging and sales price comparisons between the U.S. and home markets in the July, 2007 -- June 2008 AD administrative review of certain pasta from Italy. U.S. producers objected to the ITA’s announced plan to introduce a new model match methodology in future reviews, and to the use of company-specific model-match criteria in the concluded 2007-2008 review. The Court of International Trade ruled that it was premature to challenge the agency’s future model match approaches, but affirmed the 2007-2008 final results of review in all respects. (Slip Op. 11-65, dated 06/08/11, public version posted subsequently.)

The Court of International Trade has ruled in National Presto Industries Inc., v. U.S., that an adult diaper making machine is properly classified under heading 8441 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, which specifically covers machines used for making up paper pulp articles, and not under the basket provision of heading 8479.

The Justice Department has announced that the owner of CLM Financing and Investments, a company in Miami that provided advice to exporters, was sentenced on July 18, 2011 to 63 months in prison for his role in assisting exporters obtain fraudulent loans that were insured by the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

The Justice Department announced that an executive of a Taiwan manufacturer of aftermarket auto lights was recently arrested at Los Angeles International Airport and indicted on July 19, 2011 for participating in a global conspiracy to fix the prices of aftermarket auto lights.