The International Trade Administration has initiated administrative reviews of the following antidumping duty orders for certain specified companies listed in the initiation notice.
In U.S. v. National Semiconductor Corporation, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Court of International Trade's penalty award under 19 USC 1592 for underpayment of merchandise processing fees (MPFs), but reversed the award of prejudgment interest.
Silicon Image agreed to license select HDMI-related patents to Analogix, ending a legal battle that included alleged anti-trust violations and misappropriating of trade secrets (CED Aug 1 p1). Analogix also agreed to halt sales of HDMI chips that were pin- or register-compatible with Silicon Image’s products. Terms of the settlement weren’t released. The case was scheduled for trial in U.S. District Court, San Jose. Silicon Image sued Analogix in January 2007, alleging that the chip developer’s ICs violate its copyrights by being designed to “mirror” its products and “mimic” their numbering schemes. As part of a the settlement, Analogix dropped an antitrust suit it filed in June 2007 alleging Silicon Image signed an agreement with Hitachi, Matsushita, Philips, Thomson and Toshiba to revise and release new versions of the HDMI standard that each company must comply with. The companies created the HDMI Licensing arm and the Simplay Labs testing facility and conduct “market-controlling” activities “in secret,” Analogix said.
The International Trade Administration and the International Trade Commission have each issued notices initiating automatic five-year Sunset Reviews on the above-listed antidumping and countervailing duty orders.
The International Trade Commission has instituted a section 337 patent-based investigation of certain active comfort footwear pursuant to a complaint.
GENEVA - The U.S. and Cuba traded barbs over the decades-old TV and Radio Marti broadcasting saga in late filings for the ITU Radio Regulations Board meeting this week. Cuba wants a letter from the U.S. saying TV transmissions from a tethered balloon antenna won’t resume, it said, citing a case involving 497 MHz. Cuba also wants U.S. action on broadcasts adversely affecting TV stations operating at 509 MHz.
CBP has issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of November 24, 2008. This report includes TRQs on various products such as beef, sugar, dairy products, peanuts, cotton, cocoa products, tobacco, certain BFTA, DR-CAFTA, Israel FTA, JFTA, MFTA, SFTA, UAFTA (AFTA) and UCFTA (Chile FTA) non-textile TRQs, etc. Each report also includes the AGOA, ATPDEA, BFTA, DR-CAFTA, CBTPA, Haitian HOPE, MFTA, NAFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA TPLs and TRQs for qualifying apparel and/or other textile articles, the TRQs on worsted wool fabrics, etc. (Weekly commodity report available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/trade_programs/textiles_and_quotas/commodity/)
The International Trade Commission has instituted a section 337 patent-based investigation of certain prepregs, laminates, and finished circuit boards pursuant to a complaint.
The World Customs Organization has posted a press release announcing that on October 22, 2008, Ecuador deposited with the WCO Secretary General its instrument of accession to the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (Harmonized System). This makes Ecuador the 135th Contracting Party to the Harmonized System Convention. (WCO, dated 11/07/08, available at http://www.wcoomd.org/press/default.aspx?lid=1&id=168)
The International Trade Administration frequently issues notices on antidumping and countervailing duty orders, investigations, etc. which Broker Power considers to be "minor" in importance as they concern actions that occur after an order is issued, neither announce nor cause any changes to an order's duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective period, etc.