Taiwan is setting up task forces and a consultation hotline to assist Taiwanese companies overseas that may be affected by new tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs announced Feb. 4. The task forces will be set up in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Southeast Asia and South Asia to “provide real-time support” to Taiwanese businesses.
The European Commission is pushing for new import fees and customs controls on certain low-value e-commerce imports that it said are unsafe, counterfeit or don’t meet other EU product standards. The controls could target products from online marketplaces such as AliExpess, Amazon, Shein and Temu, the commission said, adding that those companies could be liable for the sale of unsafe products on their platforms.
U.S. fashion brand owner PVH Group is working with Chinese authorities to find a “positive resolution” after being added to China’s so-called unreliable entity list this week (see 2502040011), a company spokesperson said in an email.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the Feb. 5 Federal Register on the following antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) injury, Section 337 patent or other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will be in another ITT article):
The International Trade Commission seeks comments by Feb. 14 on a Section 337 complaint alleging that imports of glass substrates infringe patents held by Corning Incorporated, it said in a notice to be published Feb. 6. According to the complaint, the complainant is seeking a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders against LG, Hisense, HKC, and six other companies to bar from entry "certain glass substrates for liquid crystal displays, products containing the same, and methods for manufacturing the same" that violate the complainant's patents. The products are used in "display panels and electronic devices containing the same, including TVs, monitors, notebook and laptop computers, and tablets." This is the second complaint Corning has submitted in as many months (see 2412230044).
The International Trade Commission is beginning a Section 337 investigation on dryer wall exhaust vent assemblies (ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-1437) after receiving allegations filed by InOvate Acquisitions Company that Chinese company Xiamen Dirongte Trading Co., Ltd. is importing products that infringe its patents, the agency said in a notice to be published Feb. 6.
The Commerce Department soon will suspend liquidation and impose countervailing duty cash deposit requirements on imports of corrosion-resistant steel products from Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and Vietnam, it said in a fact sheet issued Feb. 4. CVD rates range from 0.33% to 1.72% for Brazilian exporters, 1.21% to 41.4% for Canadian exporters, zero percent to 1.56% for Mexican exporters, and zero percent to 140.05% for Vietnamese exporters, the agency said as it announced its preliminary determinations in its ongoing CVD investigations. Suspension of liquidation and cash deposit requirements will take effect for entries on or after the date of publication of the preliminary determinations in the Federal Register, which should occur in the coming days. Commerce is conducting a concurrent antidumping duty investigation on the same products from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam, with a preliminary determination expected on April 3.
On Feb. 4, the FDA posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts (after not having posted new ones for a number of days) on the detention without physical examination of:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who advocated for removing Nicaragua from CAFTA-DR in 2021 while he was a senator (see 2106140023), told a reporter in Costa Rica that the Trump administration has not yet decided how to deal with Nicaragua's participation in the free trade agreement.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 27 - Feb. 2: