Maersk has increased its Peak Season Surcharge as the company continues to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope for the "foreseeable future" because of Yemen-based Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea (see 2401290052), the ocean carrier said May 6. The higher charges are being put in place to offset the cost of the longer journeys, increased sailing speeds and additional fuel costs.
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference will meet with Canadian National ahead of its strike deadline on May 13 and Canadian Pacific Kansas City on May 17, the teamsters said in a news release May 2. The teamsters voted on May 1 to strike if no deal is reached with both companies, and the earliest the union could strike would be on May 22, Canadian National said.
The Energy Department is amending its energy efficiency standards for consumer water heaters, it said in a final rule May 6. DOE “has determined that the new and amended energy conservation standards for these products would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified,” it said. Compliance with the amended standards is required for consumer water heaters manufactured or imported on or after May 6, 2029, the agency said. The final rule doesn't change the existing standard for instantaneous gas water heaters, as "DOE is still considering amended energy conservation standards" for the product. The final rule goes into effect July 5.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the May 6 Federal Register on the following AD/CVD injury, Section 337 patent or other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will be in another ITT article):
The International Trade Commission is considering adding DigiKey as a respondent to a potential Section 337 investigation on imports of dynamic random access memory device integrated circuits, the ITC said in a notice May 6. The commission said it received an amended complaint from retired semiconductor designer Wen Lin that now seeks a cease and desist order against DigiKey in addition to Etron Technology (see 2403110040). The amended complaint still seeks a general exclusion order banning all imports that infringe on Lin's patents, regardless of source. Comments are due to the ITC by May 14.
The International Trade Commission seeks comments by May 14 on a request filed by SiOnyx for a Section 337 investigation into alleged patent infringement by Samsung smartphones and tablet computers, the ITC said in a notice May 6. In a complaint filed April 30, SiOnyx said Samsung’s devices copy its patented technologies for improved designs of cameras, image sensors and other sensors with pixels. SiOnyx seeks a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders barring imports of infringing devices from Samsung.
The Commerce Department published notices in the Federal Register May 6 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 carbon and alloy steel threaded rod from India (A-533-887). In the final results of this review, Commerce may set assessment rates for subject merchandise entered April 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023, from the 112 companies under review.
On May 3, the FDA posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will on May 20 "roll out" use of its APHIS Core Message Set for Certificates of Foreign Inspection and/or Treatment, or PPQ Form 203, for air shipments of precleared commodities from Chile, air shipments of precleared commodities from Thailand, and both air and maritime shipments of precleared commodities from Argentina, the agency said in a bulletin on May 6. This will create an electronic database -- for Certificates of Foreign Inspection and/or Treatment -- that can be "invoked" by filers and accessed by CBP agriculture inspectors through the Automated Commercial Environment Document Image System. "The process will function like current permitting and ePhyto capabilities in ACE," APHIS said.