The International Trade Commission is beginning a Section 337 investigation on foreign-fabricated semiconductor devices (ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-1443) after receiving allegations filed by Longitude Licensing and Marlin Semiconductor Limited that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Apple, Broadcom, Lenovo, OnePlus, Motorola Mobile Communication Technology Ltd., Motorola (Wuhan) Mobility Technologies, Communication Company Limited and Qualcomm are importing products that infringe its patents, the agency said in a March 26 notice.
As the U.S., Mexico and Canada are poised to renegotiate the free trade agreement known as USMCA among the three countries, expect the U.S. to review the rules of origin and "tighten them" in favor of requiring a higher percentage of North American content, trade attorneys with Miller and Chevalier said on a March 25 webinar sponsored by public accounting firm Forvis Mazars.
The International Trade Commission seeks comments by March 27 on a Section 337 complaint alleging that imports of electrical cables infringe patents held by Credo Semiconductor Inc., it said in a March 19 notice. According to the complaint, Credo is seeking a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders against Amphenol, Molex, TE Connectivity and Volex to bar from entry "certain active electrical cables and components thereof" that violate the complainant's patents. The complainant said that the cables "are used primarily in data centers for enabling high-speed data transmission, for example, in server-to-server and other data distribution applications."
Nearly 750 organizations and businesses gave input to the administration on trade barriers or subsidies that prevent them from reaching their sales potential.
A State Department notice declaring that all agency efforts to control international trade now constitute a "foreign affairs function" of the U.S. under the Administrative Procedure Act will ultimately be subject to the discretion of the courts, trade lawyers told us.
Customs brokers and importers are still grappling with how to comply with the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum derivatives that went into effect just after midnight on March 12 (see 2503120054).
Nicholas Lamp, academic director of international law programs at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, told an audience of lawyers at Georgetown Law School that he questioned the premise of the panel he was speaking on -- that Canada and Mexico's approaches to trade with China would influence the future of USMCA.
Two Section 232 investigations launched March 10 by the Commerce Department -- one on copper, the other on lumber -- serve as harbingers of potentially more trade activity to come, attorneys with the law firm Pillsbury said during a webinar on "DC Disrupted: Upcoming Tariffs & Trade Actions," said after notices seeking comments on the investigations had been posted.
President Donald Trump threatened to double Section 232 tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50%, starting March 12, after Ontario placed a 25% surcharge on electricity exported to Michigan, Minnesota and New York. However, Ontario Premier Rob Ford later dropped the surcharge, and Trump told White House reporters he "probably" would not follow through with the threat as a result.
Canadians and New Englanders, brought together by the New England-Canada Business Council, expressed bewilderment at the trade war directed at Canada, but said that President Donald Trump's actions will not be easily overcome as the two countries start to talk about how to change the NAFTA successor agreement in its sunset review.