Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross downplayed any disagreement within the Trump administration on how much it wants to restrict Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei via U.S. trade rules. His Thursday exchange with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., came during a Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the Commerce Department’s FY 2021 budget request. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., questioned the agency's broadband coverage data collection.
Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced long-anticipated legislation Thursday (see 2002070052) that would alter Section 230, exposing online platforms to civil liability for violating child sexual abuse material-related laws. The Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act (Earn It Act) was introduced with Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. Additional sponsors are Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.; Doug Jones, D-Ala.; Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; Bob Casey, D-Pa., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
An importer may protest CBP’s exclusion of its redesigned product for patent infringement under a Section 337 exclusion order, the Court of International Trade said in a March 4 decision. The government argued that CBP’s exclusion of Wirtgen road milling machines was not protestable because CBP was simply enforcing the International Trade Commission’s exclusion order, and that the decision should have instead been raised with the ITC and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. But CIT, noting that the ITC in the underlying Section 337 investigation specifically declined to address the redesigned products, found that CBP acted on its own authority to exclude the road milling machines, and as a result its decision could be protested. The trade court denied the government’s motion to dismiss the case as outside its jurisdiction.
The record shows new supply chain rules designed to protect U.S. networks are both “legally unsound and factually unjustified,” Huawei replied to the FCC. Commissioners approved rules 5-0 in November barring equipment from Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE in networks funded by the USF, and sought comment on whether to expand the prohibition (see 1911220033). In initial comments last month, industry groups raised concerns (see 2002040047), and replies appeared in docket 18-89 through Wednesday. Last week, the Senate passed the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (HR-4998).
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer should leave Section 230-like protections out of future trade deals, House Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., said during a hearing Wednesday. She wrote a letter to Lighthizer last week, joining House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., with the same request (see 1908060064).
The record shows new supply chain rules designed to protect U.S. networks are both “legally unsound and factually unjustified,” Huawei replied to the FCC. Commissioners approved rules 5-0 in November barring equipment from Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE in networks funded by the USF, and sought comment on whether to expand the prohibition (see 1911220033). In initial comments last month, industry groups raised concerns (see 2002040047), and replies appeared in docket 18-89 through Wednesday. Last week, the Senate passed the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (HR-4998).
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer should leave Section 230-like protections out of future trade deals, House Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., said during a hearing Wednesday. She wrote a letter to Lighthizer last week, joining House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., with the same request (see 1908060064).
CBP needs to provide more information about the intended reach of the agency's proposal to limit Court of International Trade and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rulings involving locking pliers (see 1911190036), two tool companies said in comments filed in opposition to the proposal. The comments, submitted in December by lawyers for the Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation and the Apex Tool Group, were provided by CBP in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. Both companies said they filed protests with CBP on similar merchandise. The comments were due to CBP by Dec. 20.
House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., expressed some doubt about reaching a deal on legislation to allocate proceeds of a coming FCC auction of spectrum of the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band (see 2002070044), amid ongoing talks with committee Democrats. Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., finalized plans for a hearing on his concerns with the FCC’s plan for the C-band auction.
Tentative plans by DOJ's Antitrust Division and the FTC not to challenge a vertical transaction if the parties have a share of less than 20% of a relevant market raised several red flags in comments submitted last week. The agencies got several recommendations that we received earlier (see 2002270043). We asked both Wednesday for all the submissions, and received a link from the FTC. Last week, we had filed a Freedom of Information Act request for them, which we are seeking on Monday to withdraw.