On February 2, 2010, the European Union requested authorization from the World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body to impose increased duty rates on certain U.S. products, as the U.S. has not brought its antidumping duty zeroing1 methodology into conformity with WTO rules and findings.
On January 28, 2010, U.S. Customs and Border Protection updated and expanded its frequently asked questions document on its 10+2 interim final rule that requires Security Filing information from importers and additional information from carriers for vessel (maritime) cargo before it is brought into the U.S.
CEA and the ITI Council have “no plans” to use any victory in their New York City e-waste lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of producer responsibility laws on the books or soon to be enacted in other states, the head environmental officials from both those trade groups told reporters during a telephone briefing Thursday. Both officials said they deem future lawsuits unlikely, but neither would entirely rule them out.
The International Trade Administration has initiated administrative reviews of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders below, for certain specified companies listed in the initiation notice.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a CSMS message announcing that it is providing a one-year grace period for the PAIRED entry program1, so that it will continue to be available to filers through January 28, 2011 (from January 29, 2010).
The International Trade Commission has instituted a section 337 patent-based investigation of certain electronic devices, including mobile phones, portable music players, and computers pursuant to a complaint.
A U.S. International Trade Commission judge found Nvidia violated three Rambus memory-related patents in a decision that could result in an import ban of some Nvidia graphics chips, Rambus said late Friday. Nvidia graphics ICs are used in PCs sold by Hewlett-Packard, Dell and other companies. Judge Theodore Essex ruled Nvidia infringed three of five Rambus patents at the heart of a complaint filed with ITC in November 2008. The patents are “valid, enforceable and infringed,” Essex said. Nvidia is “disappointed” that three of the patents were found valid, General Counsel David Shannon said in a statement. The patents are being reexamined by the Patent and Trademark Office and will be brought before the ITC for a “full review” of Essex’s decision, Shannon said. Nvidia was one of many defendants in a case that also names HP, Asustek Computer, MSI Computer, Pine Technology Holdings and others. Rambus sued Nvidia in July 2008 in U.S. District Court, San Jose, Calif., alleging the chipmaker violated 17 patents granted between 2001 and 2007, according to court documents. Among these patents was one covering a method for operating a memory controller device granted in April 2007 and another for a memory device having a programmable register issued in June 2004. Nvidia responded filing an federal antitrust suit against Rambus in North Carolina in 2008.
Internet companies may not have to report every foreign government request for records on political dissidents to the State Department under a new push outlined by Secretary Hillary Clinton Thursday. But she made clear in a speech at the Newseum in Washington that State wouldn’t give companies a pass for business reasons to broadly cooperate with foreign government demands. State will convene a “high level meeting” next month with Internet companies to talk about freedom issues abroad, Clinton said: “We want to have a partnership.” She also warned countries launching cyberattacks they would face “consequences,” but didn’t elaborate.
During a January 19, 2010 NCBFAA webinar, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials discussed options for the use of bonds for Importer Security Filing purposes.
CEA and the ITI Council gave a stern rebuke Friday to Electronic Takeback Coalition allegations that their lawsuit to block New York City’s e-waste law from taking effect was a strategy to sidestep a meaningful commitment to take back products. The claim was made by Barbara Kyle, the coalition’s national coordinator, in a Thursday media briefing with reporters (CED Jan 15 p2). It’s “utterly false,” CEA and ITI said in a joint e-mailed statement.