The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Aug. 25-31:
Russia export controls and sanctions
The use of export controls and sanctions on Russia has surged since the country's invasion of Crimea in 2014, and especially its invasion of Ukraine in in February 2022. Similar export controls and sanctions have been imposed by U.S. allies, including the EU, U.K. and Japan. The following is a listing of recent articles in Export Compliance Daily on export controls and sanctions imposed on Russia:
President Barack Obama should level additional sanctions on the Russian banking, energy and defense sectors to counteract continued Russian violations of Ukrainian territorial sovereignty, said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., in an Aug. 30 letter, while urging the president to impose the measures in collaboration with European allies. Many U.S. policymakers, including White House officials, allege Russia has in recent days ramped up its military presence in Ukrainian regions that border Russia (here).
The European Union launched on Aug. 14 an antidumping investigation into grain-oriented flat-rolled products of silicon-electrical steel imported from the U.S., China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. EU officials could impose provisional antidumping duties on the products 60 days from the start of the investigation, although those duties may only stay in effect for six months. The EU permits the investigation to last up to 15 months, but it may be terminated or concluded at any time, the bloc said. Antidumping duty cash deposits or guarantees may be required in accordance with the amount of provisional duty until investigation results are published. The European Steel Association, producer of more than 25 percent of the total EU grain-oriented flat-rolled products of silicon-electrical steel, lodged the complaint in late June. The complaint alleged dumping of the steel products, but lacked reliable data on prices in the domestic markets of those countries accused of dumping. The EU provided opportunity for stakeholder comments for a 10-day period following the launch of the investigation.
The Commerce Department is giving advance notice that it and the International Trade Commission will next month consider revoking the antidumping duty order on cut-to-length carbon steel plate from China (A-570-849), as well as the suspended antidumping duty investigations on cut-to-length carbon steel plate from Russia (A-821-808) and Ukraine (A-823-808) in their automatic five-year sunset reviews scheduled to begin in October. Advance notice is given because sunset reviews have short deadlines. An order will be revoked unless Commerce finds that revocation would lead to a continuation or recurrence of dumping and the ITC finds that revocation would result in continuation or recurrence of material injury to a U.S. industry. As a result, a negative determination by either Commerce or the ITC would result in the revocation of these orders.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is asking for stakeholder comments to help prepare its annual report to Congress on Russian implementation of its World Trade Organization obligations. Comments are due by Sept. 26, and the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee will hold an Oct. 10 hearing on the matter. Those obligations include compliance with the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. USTR also asked for comments on Russian progress in acceding to the Information Technology Agreement and the Government Procurement Agreement, both of which are plurilateral agreements under the WTO. USTR is required to include in the report plans to “encourage” Russia to improve these efforts, if the report findings suggest the country is insufficiently meeting its obligations. USTR said stakeholders should submit comments and notifications of intent to testify at the Oct. 10 hearing via www.regulations.gov, USTR-2014-0016.
The Treasury and State Departments on Aug. 29 released an extensive list of sanctions on individuals and entities in Iran. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed individuals, entities and vessels on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List. National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement the Iran sanctions are consistent with the relief package brokered between P5+1 countries and Iran in January (see 14072525). “Our actions today and since the start of the talks are consistent with our commitments under the Joint Plan of Action, which provided limited relief of certain sanctions in exchange for Iranian steps that halted its nuclear program and rolled it back in key respects,” said Hayden.
The Commerce Department initiated administrative reviews for certain firms subject to antidumping and countervailing duty orders with July anniversary dates. The agency said it intends to issue the final results of these reviews no later than July 30, 2015.
The Alaskan congressional delegation pressed President Barack Obama on Aug. 26 to impose a ban on Russian seafood products, if diplomatic efforts fail to immediately stop the Russian agricultural ban on U.S. products. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Mark Begich, D-Alaska, and House member Don Young, R-Alaska, said in a letter to Obama the Russian ban will damage the Alaskan seafood industry, including salmon, pollock and crab fisheries.
No antidumping duties will be imposed on ferrosilicon from Venezuela, after the International Trade Commission on Aug. 26 voted that imports of the product are not causing injury to U.S. industry. The ITC vote, which was unanimous, comes on the heels of a decision by the Commerce Department to end a concurrent investigation on ferrosilicon from Russia (see 14073014). As a result of the ITC’s vote, the AD duty investigation on ferrosilicon from Venezuela will end without the issuance of an AD duty order, and all cash deposits collected in connection with the investigation will be refunded.
On Aug. 25 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports: