International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for May 8-12 in case they were missed.
Opponents of the pending net neutrality NPRM say the FCC could face a tough time in court making the case that the agency needs to move again, two years after imposing rules reclassifying broadband as a Communications Act Title II service. Meanwhile, the FCC continues to be inundated with net neutrality comments, posting more than 780,000 on its filing system Friday and Monday. But the Electronic Comment Filing System was functioning throughout the day Monday, after experiencing widespread problems last week (see 1705120052).
Opponents of the pending net neutrality NPRM say the FCC could face a tough time in court making the case that the agency needs to move again, two years after imposing rules reclassifying broadband as a Communications Act Title II service. Meanwhile, the FCC continues to be inundated with net neutrality comments, posting more than 780,000 on its filing system Friday and Monday. But the Electronic Comment Filing System was functioning throughout the day Monday, after experiencing widespread problems last week (see 1705120052).
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of May 1-7:
FARMINGTON, Pa. -- Critics of an FCC plan to roll back Title II net neutrality regulation believe the agency will struggle to justify reversing its 2015 broadband reclassification so soon after it was upheld in court. They believe little has changed since 2015 to explain a reversal other than pure politics.
FARMINGTON, Pa. -- Critics of an FCC plan to roll back Title II net neutrality regulation believe the agency will struggle to justify reversing its 2015 broadband reclassification so soon after it was upheld in court. They believe little has changed since 2015 to explain a reversal other than pure politics.
The Court of International Trade on May 5 imposed the maximum allowable penalty on an importer and its executive for misclassifying entries of sugar (here). The now-defunct International Trading Services (ITS) and its President, CEO and managing member Julio Lorza will pay $295,655.77 in unpaid duties and a penalty of $691,311.54 for negligently misrepresenting that the sugar qualified for a tariff provision dutiable at about 3 cents per kilogram when it was actually dutiable at a rate of about 35 cents. The court’s decision was partially the result of Lorza’s and ITS’s failure to respond to the government’s penalty motion.
There's still some question as to exactly how broad the Commerce Department's Section 232 investigations on steel and aluminum imports will be (see 1704200029 and 1704270024), members of the trade community said during a panel discussion May 3. The broadness of the administration’s definition of “national security” will determine the range of products covered by any safeguard measures, Allegheny Technologies Vice President Terrence Hartford said during a Kelley Drye event examining the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency. Commerce Department officials are also under more pressure to finish antidumping and countervailing determinations early, said the panelists.
Weeks out from the first compliance date for new requirements under the Foreign Supplier Verification Program on May 30, confusion persists among the trade community as to what must be done to comply and who is required to do it. Despite pleas from the NCBFAA for a “soft landing” (see 1705020041), the Food and Drug Administration has so far not explicitly indicated a policy of enforcement discretion, though agency officials have agreed to be “mindful” of the rule’s impact on industry (see 1704040024). Given the rule’s complexity and past experience, FDA will likely take a lenient approach, using the initial compliance period for education, though particularly egregious cases could see early enforcement.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of April 24-30: