The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit adopted changes to its Appellate Mediation Program Guidelines regarding: (1) confidentiality; and (2) settlements that include terms concerning vacatur of a district court ruling. Changes are as follows:
The Court of International Trade ruled that CBP correctly classified plaintiff Telebrands Corporation’s PedEgg foot callus remover as other cutlery rather than a pedicure set. Although the device includes both a blade and emery pads to remove excess skin, the PedEgg is not a set because it is a single instrument, CIT said.
The Court of International Trade sustained a remand redetermination of the final results of the 2007-08 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on silicon metal from China (A-570-806) with respect to the International Trade Administration’s use of Indian company FACOR’s financial statement as a surrogate to calculate Chinese respondents’ selling, general and administrative expenses. The ITA excluded FACOR’s sale of a power plant from the calculation as a non-routine transaction. Defendant-intervenors Shanghai Jinneng International Trade Co., Ltd. and Jiangxi Gangyuan Silicon Industry Co., Ltd. argued that the sale should have been included. But CIT found that they failed to adequately explain “how the sale of an entire power plant by ferroalloy producers, not in the business of selling power plants, amounts to an insignificant, routine transaction, and further, why that determination is the only outcome that the administrative record reasonably supports.”
The Court of International Trade remanded part of the International Trade Administration’s final determination in the countervailing duty investigation of multilayered wood flooring from China (C-570-971) for the ITA to reconsider its inclusion of two companies in a list of non-cooperating companies assigned an adverse facts available rate.
The Court of International Trade rejected CBP’s motion for over $80,000 in penalties from U.S. company Active Frontier International, Inc. (AFI) for falsely declaring country of origin on seven entries of apparel made during 2006 and 2007. CBP failed to establish that the misstatements were “material,” as required by 19 USC 1592 for imposition of a penalty, CIT said. The denial was without prejudice, so CBP is free to amend its complaint.
InterDigital appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit an International Trade Commission determination to terminate the Section 337 patent investigation of certain wireless devices with 3G capabilities and components thereof (337-TA-800) with respect to respondent LG. The ITC’s investigation is still pending, and completion is targeted for June 28, 2013. The ITC terminated the investigation with respect to LG on July 6 based on an arbitration clause in a license agreement, despite InterDigital’s opposition.
A Miami-based ship surveyor was sentenced to 21 months in prison for lying to the Coast Guard and falsely certifying that inspections had been carried out on two ships, the Department of Justice said Aug. 29. The inspections were designed to ensure that the ships were seaworthy and didn't pose a threat to the crew or the marine environment, said Ignacia Moreno, assistant attorney general for the environment and natural resources division.
The Court of International Trade remanded the International Trade Administration’s calculation of normal value for plaintiff Far Eastern New Century Corp. (FENC) in the 09-10 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain polyester staple fiber from Taiwan (A-583-833). After publication of the final results, FENC told the ITA that it had committed a ministerial error by using an earlier version of FENC’s selling, general, and administrative expenses ratio to calculate FENC’s normal value, instead of the corrected version submitted later in the proceeding. The ITA disagreed, so FENC filed suit at CIT. But after the suit was filed, the ITA reexamined the record and found that it “may not have used the corrected normal value” in calculating the final AD rate. The ITA and FENC both requested the remand, and CIT assented.
Japan's Nippon Seiki Co. agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $1 million criminal fine for a conspiracy to fix prices of instrument panel clusters installed in cars. According to a one-count felony charge, Nippon Seiki engaged in conspiracies to rig bids for, and to fix, stabilize and maintain the prices of instrument panel clusters, from at least as early as April 2008 until at least February 2010. Including Nippon Seiki, eight companies and 11 executives have been charged in the department's ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry, Justice said.
A Hong Kong-based jewelry exporter pleaded guilty Aug. 24 to customs fraud and faces nearly $2 million in fines and restitution in a scheme discovered by CBP’s Regulatory Audit Unit, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Fai Po Jewellery (H.K.) Co. admitted to intentionally submitting false invoices to the government in connection with the importation of merchandise in order to avoid paying more than $1 million in customs duties, ICE said. The company was ordered to pay an $800,000 criminal fine and restitution of $1,017,737. Additionally, the company was ordered to pay the cost of the investigation in the amount of $144,324 and was placed on three years' probation.