A Chinese man based in the U.S. was sentenced to 54 months in prison after he helped ship counterfeit computer networking parts into Texas, the Department of Justice announced Feb. 15. The man, 40-year-old Ruiyang Li, who the DOJ said is not a U.S. citizen, used counterfeit trademarks of Cisco, Hewlett-Packard and Intel, according to a press release. Because counterfeit products are not subject to manufacturing requirements, the networking parts may present safety risks to whoever uses or relies on them, the DOJ said. Li sold the parts for about 10 years before being caught in 2017, according to the release. "Over this time period, Li sold counterfeit networking products through several business entities, often hiding behind layers of personal and corporate aliases to evade detection by law enforcement," the DOJ said. "Li also used various means to conceal his unlawful conduct, including by sending and receiving payments using accounts that did not appear connected, at least publicly, to companies trafficking in illicit products. Li and his customers would also agree to mislabel packages, break up shipments into separate components, alter destination addresses and use multiple forwarding companies based in the United States. These methods, in Li’s mind, made shipping counterfeit parts 'safer,' which in practice meant delaying or complicating detection by U.S. authorities."
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 11-17:
The Court of International Trade on Feb. 13 rejected a Commerce Department scope ruling that found Star Pipe’s ductile iron flanges subject to antidumping duties on non-malleable pipe fittings from China, ordering the agency to reconsider its findings in light of evidence that the products were not intended to be covered by the AD duty order.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 4-10:
The National Retail Federation is optimistic about a de-escalation of the U.S.-China trade war but won’t close the door on joining a legal challenge if the Trump administration hikes the 10 percent Section 301 tariffs to 25 percent after March 1, CEO Matthew Shay told us Feb. 6. “I’m not sure we’re ready to go there yet,” Shay said of a court challenge.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 28 - Feb. 3:
Court of International Trade Judge Delissa Ridgway is now listed on the CIT website as an inactive senior judge. The change in status occurred on Jan. 31 and creates a new vacancy, Clerk of the Court Mario Toscano said in an email. Judge Kenton Musgrave also recently became an inactive senior judge, though that vacancy was filled when he previously became a senior judge.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 21-27:
A recent Court of International Trade decision demonstrates the importance to importers of cooperating closely with suppliers on the use of certification marks, and taking the additional step of using available tools to verify the validity of marks from Underwriters Laboratories, customs lawyer Larry Friedman said in a post on his Customs Law Blog.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 14-20: