Full deployment of export manifest capabilities in ACE is expected to automatically connect manifest and export commodity filings, and should help resolve current disputes between freight forwarders and carriers regarding responsibility for filing and correlating those different information sets, government officials said Oct. 3 during a Bureau of Industry and Security export control policy conference. CBP recently expanded pre-departure export manifest filing pilots for exports in ACE to more participants, and extended the testing periods to Aug. 10, 2018, for air cargo, Sept. 21, 2018, for vessel cargo and Oct. 9, 2018, for rail cargo (see 1708110020).
The World Trade Organization recently posted the following notices:
SolarWorld is suggesting that the International Trade Commission recommend to the White House both a tariff and quota on crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cells, and is supporting Suniva’s request for an initial price floor of $0.74 per watt, according to documents filed with the ITC. The ITC on Sept. 22 announced an affirmative injury determination in its Section 201 safeguard investigation on CSPV cells (see 1709220044). The investigation now moves to a remedy phase, wherein the ITC will hold a hearing on Oct. 3 to determine what remedies, if any, should be proposed, and is expected to send the president its final report of potential recommendations for remedial action by Nov. 13.
A customs broker may seek indemnification from an importer client during a Court of International Trade penalty case, even if the broker’s terms and conditions specify a different court for any lawsuits related to the broker’s services, the Court of International Trade said in a Sept. 29 decision. CIT has jurisdiction to hear all cross-claims for relief from liability on entries subject to a trade case, so UPS Supply Chain Solutions may sue its importer client Majestic Mills as part of a government penalty case related to entries on which UPS acted as broker, it said.
The following new requests for antidumping and countervailing duty scope rulings were filed with the Commerce Department since International Trade Today's last update:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 18-24:
An inventor formerly based in Pennsylvania requests a Tariff Act Section 337 ban on imports of dynamic random access memory devices by SK hynix that he says copy his patented designs. In a complaint filed Sept. 18, Wen Lin said SK hynix is importing and selling infringing DRAM devices in the form of an integrated circuit. Lin requests a limited exclusion order and cease and desist order banning import and sale of infringing DRAM devices by SK hynix. He pledges to donate any licensing fees stemming from the case to charity. The International Trade Commission seeks comments by Oct. 2, it said in Friday's Federal Register. SK hynix didn't comment.
Fujifilm filed a complaint on Sept. 19 with the International Trade Commission, requesting a Section 337 investigation into allegations that imports of Sony magnetic data storage tapes infringe its patents. Fujifilm seeks a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders banning importation and sale of Sony Linear Tape-Open 4th, 5th and 6th generation products (LTO-4, LTO-5 and LTO-6, respectively), it said. The Section 337 investigation would come on top of another that began in June 2016 on Sony’s LTO-7 products (see 1606280008). Sony has also brought Section 337 cases against Fujifilm’s LTO-4, LTO-5 and LTO-6 tapes (see 1701200035 and 1705260037). The ITC seeks comments by Oct. 3 on public interest issues raised by the complaint.
Locking pliers imported by Irwin Industrial Tool are classifiable in the tariff schedule as pliers, not vises or clamps, the Court of International Trade said in a Sept. 21 decision. Having already ruled in April against CBP’s liquidation of the imported locking pliers as wrenches (see 1704130035), the trade court found that the locking pliers are not classifiable as vises either, because they pivot on a central fulcrum and close by gripping the handles, rather than by turning a screw or lever.
SAN FRANCISCO -- An attorney for AT&T Mobility said the FCC -- not the FTC -- is the telco's main regulator and AT&T would be "happy" to defend against allegations that it throttled its data service without telling customers. Michael Kellogg, representing the telco before 11 judges of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals during oral argument Tuesday, said he wasn't arguing against the idea of concurrent enforcement. But in this instance, Congress drew a distinction that the FCC is the primary regulator and the case is "right in its wheelhouse," he continued.