International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 3 - Sept. 6 in case they were missed.
A Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) proposed rulemaking will inhibit job creation, national economic growth and increase regulations, National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) Vice President Geoffrey Powell said in testimony on Sept. 10 (here). The testimony was delivered to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation during a hearing on maritime transportation regulations. Powell said the rulemaking, on regulations for Ocean Transport Intermediary (OTI) licensing and financial responsibility requirements would increase regulatory costs on the segment of the maritime industry referred to as ocean transportation intermediaries.
The U.S. International Trade Commission said it began preliminary phase antidumping and countervailing duty investigations (Nos. 701-TA-501 and 731-TA-1226 (Preliminary)) to decide if there's a reasonable indication that a U.S. industry or potential industry is materially injured or threatened with material injury due to imports of chlorinated isocyanurates from China and Japan. The imports are alleged to be sold in the U.S. at less than fair value by Japan and alleged to be subsidized by China, it said in a Federal Register notice scheduled for Sept. 10.
The Department of Agriculture (USDA)-issued country of origin labeling (COOL) regime on foreign meat products and livestock is set to face critical legal tests both domestically and internationally in the coming days and weeks. Canada will likely seek to establish a WTO compliance panel over the most recent COOL iteration, issued by the USDA's Agriculture Marketing Service on May 23, when the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) reconvenes Sept. 25, said industry officials and lawyers. On Aug. 30, the U.S. rejected a Canadian request to establish another compliance panel in the dispute (here). Industry officials and lawyers said WTO procedure permits a party to reject on only one occasion.
Nike's new trademark suit against a freight forwarder raises new questions about liability of service providers for counterfeiting violations, industry lawyers said. While the dispute began as one of a string of trademark cases against customs brokers, Nike expanded the lawsuit in August to directly allege counterfeiting by City Ocean. The forwarder has since moved to dismiss the case, and some lawyers agree that Nike’s arguments are threadbare at the moment. But the lawyer who first brought City Ocean into the case as a third party defendant says the forwarder, and CBP as well, should have noticed the allegedly counterfeit shipments were not as advertised.
The Court of International Trade denied on Sept. 4 a constitutional challenge to the requirement that importers pay duties in full before challenging a customs protest. International Custom Products had argued that it faced payment of an insurmountable sum, but the court said the requirement is set in stone. The challenge revolved around a CBP notice of action that CIT had found in November to have improperly revoked an earlier ruling letter on the classification of ICP’s white sauce (see 12112123). That had resulted in a 2,400 percent increase in duty liability for ICP (see 12121239). But while ICP in November was successful in getting a refund on one of 99 entries affected by the notice of action, CIT on Sept. 4 dismissed ICPs challenge related to another 13 entries because the company hadn’t yet paid the required $28 million in additional duties.
New Zealand will join the U.S. World Trade Organization (WTO) challenge to Indonesian restrictive measures applied to horticultural products, animals and animal products, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman said on Aug. 30, adding that the U.S. is filing a request to “address recent modifications to Indonesia’s measures." Froman also said he welcomed New Zealand's entry into the dispute.
An appeals judge hearing oral arguments in online TV retransmission service FilmOn X’s appeal of a preliminary injunction brought by broadcasters in California suggested that if broadcasters want existing copyright policy changed, they should look to Congress rather than the courts. “In the end, isn’t this really a problem for Congress?” asked Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain in a recording on the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals website. He was speaking to Baker Marquardt attorney Ryan Baker, who represented FilmOn X -- formerly Aereokiller. Broadcasters sought the injunction against FilmOn for retransmitting Los Angeles broadcast TV stations over the Internet without their consent, which the broadcasters said violates copyright law. The injunction was granted in a U.S. District Court in California, but appealed by FilmOn. “So long as we can determine that your client has come within the terms of existing copyright act, that’s enough,” O'Scannlain told Baker Tuesday.
An appeals judge hearing oral arguments in online TV retransmission service FilmOn X’s appeal of a preliminary injunction brought by broadcasters in California suggested that if broadcasters want existing copyright policy changed, they should look to Congress rather than the courts. “In the end, isn’t this really a problem for Congress?” asked Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain in a recording on the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals website. He was speaking to Baker Marquardt attorney Ryan Baker, who represented FilmOn X -- formerly Aereokiller. Broadcasters sought the injunction against FilmOn for retransmitting Los Angeles broadcast TV stations over the Internet without their consent, which the broadcasters said violates copyright law. The injunction was granted in a U.S. District Court in California, but appealed by FilmOn. “So long as we can determine that your client has come within the terms of existing copyright act, that’s enough,” O'Scannlain told Baker Tuesday.
CBP’s ability to consistently enforce Importer Security Filing (ISF) among different ports is one of several major worries for the agency’s new stricter enforcement policy on ISF, said surety company Roanoke Trade in an Aug. 27 document. According to Roanoke, CBP has said it will not impose uniformity across the ports for ISF hold and liquidated damages outside of the directions already given to the ports from CBP headquarters. The document, “ISF Enforcement Summary,” addresses ISF enforcement among ports and CBP policies on liquidated damages claims, and lays out industry concerns, CBP responses, and Roanoke’s own input as a surety.