Agriculture:

        U.S.:                

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) requires that plant material quantities be reported on the import declaration using standardized metric units (kilograms, meters, square meters) to account for differences in size or weight (27 ITR 778; 5/27/10). 

Dumping:

       U.S.:                     

The International Trade Commission found that U.S. Industry may be materially injured by imports of certain aluminum extrusions from China allegedly subsidized and sold in the U.S. at less than fair value (Aluminum Extrusions from China, ITC); (27 ITR 755; 5/20/10). 

        China:                   

The Commerce Department announced a final affirmative dumping and Countervailing Duty (CVD) determination upon investigations of imports of prestressed concrete steel wire strand (PC Strand) from China (Prestressed Concrete Steel Wire Strand from China, ITA) (27 ITR 755; 5/20/10). 

Export Controls:

U.S.:                  

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the Commerce Department added the firm Advance Micro Devices to the list of validated end-users for China authorizing exports of select commodities to be exported, re-exported or transferred under a general authorization instead of an individually validated license under Section 748.15 of the EAR (27 ITR 747; 5/20/10). 

Intellectual Property:

The Netherlands:     

Customs officials in The Netherlands seized generic medicines produced in India and bound for Brazil on a suspicion that the goods violated intellectual property rules under EU Council Regulation 1383\2003 (27 ITR 743; 5/20/10). 

Marine Products:

U.S.:                     

The State Department has certified 38 nations and one economy as eligible to export wild shrimp to the U.S.  (27 ITR 699; 5/13/10).

WTO:                             

The World Trade Organization (WTO) issued a preliminary ruling narrowing the scope of its review regarding the U.S. complaint on the application of export restrictions on nine categories of raw material minerals including bauxite, coke, fluorspar, magnesium, manganese, silicon metal, silicon carbide, yellow phosphorous and zinc (27 ITR 772; 5/27/10).

Bilateral Agreement:

       U.S.:                     

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) office and the People’s Committee on Industry, Economy and Trade of Libya signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) mandating the establishment of a joint council to facilitate increased flows of trade and investment between the two countries (27 ITR 799; 5/27/10). 

The U.S. Department of Commerce and the Hong Kong Commerce and Economic Development Bureau signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in wine related business trade (27 ITR 788; 5/27/10). 

Customs:

       US:                       

The Customs Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Reauthorization Act of 2009 (S.1631) was introduced as reauthorization legislation with detailed reform proposals regarding customs, practices and increased funding to facilitate passage of cargo shipments across U.S. borders (27 ITR 774; 5/27/10). 

       India:                    

The Indian subsidiary of Hewlett Packard Co., has been issued a notice that the firm has been charged with suspected undervaluation of imported products and spare parts in the amount of $321.5 million of unpaid customs duties (27 ITR 748; 5/20/10). 

Dumping:

       U.S.:                     

The U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) ordered the Commerce Department to liquidate entries of wooden bedroom furniture from China at the original rate (American Signature Inc. v. U.S., Ct. Int’l Trade, Court No. 09-00400) (Slip Op. 10-58) (5/18/10; 27 ITR 794; 5/27/10). 

       U.S.:                     

The U.S. Court of Appeals faulted the Commerce Department in its calculation of anti-dumping duties on imported wooden furniture from China because its method of calculating weight rates uses data not permitted by the governing statute thereby invalidating 19 C.F.R. Section 351.408(c)(3)(Dorbest Ltd. v. U.S., Fed. Cir., 2009-1257, 1266, 5/14/10) (27 ITR 734; 5/20/10).  

Environment: 

       U.S.:                     

Automotive parts retailer PepBoys and one of its suppliers agreed to pay $5 million in fines and export or destroy more than 1,300 non-compliant vehicles and generators for failing to comply with the Clean Air Act (U.S. v. The PepBoys), DDC, No. 10-00745, Consent Decree filed 5/10/10) (27 ITR 722; 5/13/10). 

Energy:

        U.S.:                     

The Clean Energy Technology Manufacturing and Export Assistance Act of 2010 has been introduced in the House to authorize $75 million over five years to encourage innovation, investment and productivity in the clean energy technology sector (27 ITR 662; 5/06/10). 

Export Controls:

        U.S.:                     

Two Chinese nationals were found guilty of illegally conspiring to violate U.S. export laws and illegally exporting electronic equipment from the United States to China (Zhen Zhou Wu, Yufeng Wei, Chitron Electronics Inc.; 27 ITR 795; 5/27/10). 

A federal grand jury convicted a resident of Macau, China of four counts related to a conspiracy to export defense articles without a license (U.S. v. Kuok, S.D. Cal. No. 3:09-cr-02581, 5/12/10) (27 ITR 757; 5/20/10). 

Balli Aviation Ltd., a subsidiary of Balli Group PLC of the United Kingdom was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to pay a $2 million fine and serve a five year period of probation after a corporate guilty plea in connection with its illegal export of commercial Boeing 747 aircraft from the United States to Iran (U.S. v. Balli Aviation Ltd., D.D.C., 1:09-cr-00366-ESH, 5/11/10) (27 ITR 761; 5/20/10). 

Export Finance: 

       U.S.:                     

Chief Executive Officer Guillermo Sanchez of ACE Products, an export company, Sanchez pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit a fraud on the U.S. Export-Import Bank in the amount of $854,000  (U.S. v. Guillermo, DDC, No. 1:10-CR-00105-GK, 4/29/10) (27 ITR 683; 5/6/10). 

Trade:

       Canada:        

The Transboundary Waters Protection Act would strengthen existing federal and provincial prohibitions against bulk exports of fresh water from Canada (Bill C-26) (27 ITR 793; 5/27/10). 

Sources:BLR- Bloomberg Law Reports Antitrust & Trade; BNA - BNA, Inc.Highlights: International Trade Daily (ITD), International Trade Reporter (ITR), International Trade Reporter Decisions (ITRD), TMIJ-Tax Management International Journal; IL - International Lawyer, SMU School of Law; FT- Financial Times; TE - The Economist Magazine; GATM - German American Trade Magazine of the German American Chamber of Commerce; WSJ - Wall Street Journal; ILN/ABA-International Law News, American Bar Association; International Law News, ILN (American Bar Association); Nishith Desai Associates FEMA Hotline(nda@ndalaw.com); LB- LehmanBrown China Business Insights International Accountants.