Importer Cozy Comfort Co. moved on Sept. 17 to exclude the testimony of sales and marketing lecturer Patricia Concannon regarding the tariff classification of The Comfy, a wearable blanket. The motion was issued ahead of a bench trial on the classification of the item (Cozy Comfort Company v. U.S., CIT # 22-00173).
Jacob Kopnick
Jacob Kopnick, Associate Editor, is a reporter for Trade Law Daily and its sister publications Export Compliance Daily and International Trade Today. He joined the Warren Communications News team in early 2021 covering a wide range of topics including trade-related court cases and export issues in Europe and Asia. Jacob's background is in trade policy, having spent time with both CSIS and USTR researching international trade and its complexities. Jacob is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Public Policy.
The Commerce Department said on remand at the Court of International Trade that Germany's Konzessionsabgabenverordnung (KAV) program, which exempts from a fee gas and power pipeline companies that sell electricity below a certain price, isn't de facto specific. The fees would otherwise be passed on to consumers. Commerce made the finding on Sept. 17 after being instructed by the trade court to conduct a de facto specificity analysis (BGH Edelstahl Siegen v. U.S., CIT # 21-00080).
The Commerce Department erred in treating fees exporter Finieco Industria e Comercio de Embalagens paid to a U.S. company as a direct expense in the antidumping duty investigation on paper shopping bags from Portugal, Finieco said in a Sept. 17 complaint at the Court of International Trade (Finieco Industria e Comercio de Embalagens v. U.S., CIT # 24-00160).
Three grape grower trade groups filed a complaint on Sept. 13 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenging the Agriculture Department's notice allowing table grapes from Chile to be imported under a "systems approach" as opposed to using the standard fumigation requirements (California Table Grape Commission v. United States Department of Agriculture, D.D.C. # 24-02645).
The U.S. recently unsealed a pair of indictments, one against Russian national Denis Postovoy and the other against Chinese national Song Wu, for national security-related offenses. Postovoy is accused of conspiring to commit export control violations by shipping microelectronic components with military applications from the U.S. to Russia, while Song is charged with fraud and identity theft related to efforts to obtain confidential or proprietary software from government agencies, research universities and private companies.
Business consulting firm FTI Consulting launched a national security practice that will offer advice on various national security issues, including export controls, reviews before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., sanctions, and "transshipment and diversion of critical technology." Michael Driscoll, former assistant director in charge of the FBI's New York office, will lead the practice.
The U.S. and Kevin Ho, owner and director of importer Atria, have agreed to try and resolve a customs penalty action via stipulated judgment and are now working to negotiate a number Ho will pay, the parties said in a Sept. 16 status report. The development comes after Ho pleaded guilty in a parallel criminal proceeding in which he was sentenced to 18 months in prison (United States v. Chu-Chiang "Kevin" Ho, CIT # 19-00038).
The EU General Court last week upheld the sanctions listing of Marina Mordashova, who was sanctioned in 2022 for her association with her husband, Alexey Mordashov, chairman of investment firm Severgroup. The court rejected Mordashova's argument that she shouldn't be subject to sanctions because she was no longer married to Mordashov, according to an unofficial translation of the court's decision.
Exporter ULMA Forja, S.Coop filed a complaint on Sept. 17 at the Court of International Trade to contest the Commerce Department's differential pricing analysis in the 2022-23 review of the antidumping duty order on finished carbon steel flanges from Spain (ULMA Forja, S.Coop v. United States, CIT # 24-00162).
The U.S. in a Sept. 13 brief defended the Commerce Department's finding that the South Korean government's provision of electricity was de facto specific and also its decision to countervail the full allotment of carbon emissions permits under the Korean cap-and-trade program in the 2021 review of the countervailing duty order on carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate from South Korea (POSCO v. United States, CIT # 24-00006).