Petitions for the Imposition of Antidumping Duties and Countervailing Duties on Imports of Forged Steel Fittings from the People’s Republic of China, Italy, and Taiwan - Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP
I. Type of Action: Antidumping Duty (“AD”): People’s Republic of China, Italy, Taiwan; Countervailing Duty (“CVD”): People’s Republic of China;
II. Product: The merchandise covered by this investigation is carbon and alloy forged steel fittings, whether unfinished (commonly known as blanks or rough forgings) or finished. Such fittings are made in a variety of shapes including, but not limited to, elbows, tees, crosses, laterals, couplings, reducers, caps, plugs, bushings and unions. Forged steel fittings are covered regardless of end finish, whether threaded, socket-weld or other end connections.
While these fittings are generally manufactured to specifications ASME B16.11, MSS SP-79, and MSS SP-83, ASTM A105, ASTM A350 and ASTM A182, the scope is not limited to fittings made to these specifications.
The term forged is an industry term used to describe a class of products included in applicable standards, and does not reference an exclusive manufacturing process. Forged steel fittings are not manufactured from casting. Pursuant to the applicable standards, fittings may also be machined from bar stock or machined from seamless pipe and tube.
All types of fittings are included in the scope regardless of nominal pipe size (which may or may not be expressed in inches of nominal pipe size), pressure rating (usually, but not necessarily expressed in pounds of pressure, e.g., 2,000 or 2M; 3,000 or 3M; 6,000 or 6M; 9,000 or 9M), wall thickness, and whether or not heat treated.
Excluded from this scope are all fittings entirely made of stainless steel. Also excluded are flanges and butt weld fittings.
III. HTS classifications: Subject carbon and alloy forged steel fittings are normally entered under HTSUS 7307.99.1000, 7307.99.3000, 7307.99.5045, and 7307.99.5060. They also may be entered under HTSUS 7307.92.3010, 7307.92.3030, 7307.92.9000, and 7326.19.0010.
IV. Date of Filing: October 5, 2017
V. Petitioners: Bonney Forge Corporation and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (“USW”)
VI. Foreign Producers/Exporters. Please contact our office for a list filed with the petition.
VII. US Importers named. Please contact our office for a list filed with the petition.
VIII. Alleged Dumping Margin (No CVD Margin listed):
People’s Republic of China: 141.41%;
Italy: 47.87%;
Taiwan: 109.35%;
IX. Comments:
A. Projected date of ITC Preliminary Conference: October 26, 2017. Please contact our office for a complete projected schedule for the AD investigation.
B. The earliest theoretical date for retroactive suspension of liquidation for the antidumping duty is December 14, 2017; for countervailing duty is October 25, 2017. Please contact our office for a complete projected schedule for the CVD Investigation.
C. Volume and Value of Imports: Please contact our office for a summary of the data filed with the petition.
D. List of Alleged Subsidy Programs: Please contact our office for a list of the alleged subsidy programs.
If you have questions regarding how this investigation may impact future imports of scope merchandise, or whether a particular product is within the scope of the investigation, please contact one of our attorneys.
Guidance Document on Hazardous Additive, Non-Polymeric Organohalogen Flame Retardants in Certain Consumer Products - ITA/OTEXA
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recommends that manufacturers cease the use of organohalogen flame retardants (OFRs) in the production of children's products, furniture, mattresses, and electronics casings. Importers, distributors, and retailers also should obtain assurances from manufacturers that such products do not contain OFRs. See the CPSC Guidance Document on Hazardous Additive, Non-Polymeric Organohalogen Flame Retardants in Certain Consumer Products
CBP Charleston Seizes More than $12 Million in Counterfeit Water Bottles - U.S. Immigratios and Customs Enforcement
CHARLESTON, S.C. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Field Operations, at Charleston seaport seized counterfeit water bottles in five separate incidents over the summer. The merchandise arrived into the port from China and each shipment was destined for a California based drink ware distributor.
Analysis of the shipment details suggested that the cargo warranted further scrutiny. In each case, the importer of the merchandise was unable to provide requested paperwork demonstrating that the manufacturer of the goods was authorized to use a unique bottle shape which is a style patented and trademarked by the S’Well Bottle Company.
Examination and appraisal of the shipments revealed 345,597 individual plastic and stainless steel bottles manufactured in a style that mimicked the unique shapes and features trademarked by S’Well Bottle Company. Representatives from S’Well confirmed their trademarked design was being infringed, from use of the same cap to the fluting on the bottom of the bottle and everything in between. If sold without S’Well’s permission, this constitutes counterfeiting and therefore makes the shipments subject to seizure.
The total estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of the seized goods, had they been genuine was determined to be $12,341,820.
“The officers that worked these seizures did a tremendous job,” said Robert Fencel Charleston Area Port Director. “It required thorough attention to detail and research to discover this trademark infringement. Their work demonstrates how committed CBP is to ensuring the designers and manufacturers of unique products are protected from those who would try to steal the profits from their hard work and ingenuity.”
In addition to denying trademark holders profit from their ideas, counterfeit products have been found to be manufactured using substandard or tainted materials under uncontrolled, unsanitary conditions, using labor practices that violate international standards.
If you have information about counterfeit merchandise being illegally imported into the U.S., CBP encourages you to submit an E-Allegation. The E-Allegation provides a means for the public to anonymously report to CBP any suspected violations of trade laws or regulations related to the importation of goods into the U.S.CBP’s Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within Homeland Security tasked with an anti-terrorism mission at our nation’s ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the U.S. while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. CBP conducts inspection operations and intercepts currency, weapons, prohibited agriculture products, and other illicit items at U.S. ports of entry nationwide. View CBP Snapshot to learn some of what CBP achieves “On a Typical Day.”
USITC: News Releases, Documents and Announcement - International Trade Administration
WASHINGTON, D.C. – It’s a fact: young children can drown quickly, even in small amounts of water in a bath tub. A new federal mandatory safety standard aimed at helping to keep infants and toddlers from drowning while in infant bath tubs went into effect on October 2, 2017. This means that it is now illegal to sell infant bath tubs in the United States that were manufactured on or after that date, if they do not meet the new regulation.
Parents and caregivers should purchase infant bath tubs that were manufactured on or after October 2, 2017. These bath tubs must meet the new federal safety standard.
The regulation requires improvements to the warning statements printed on infant bath tubs to protect babies by providing caregivers with information about drowning and fall hazards and how to avoid these hazards. The bath tubs also must meet improved performance requirements that address infant bath tub breakage and broken locking mechanisms. The federal standard incorporates the most recent ASTM International 2017 voluntary standard, ASTM F2670-17.
Between 2004 and 2015, there were 31 infant deaths associated with infant bath tubs reported to CPSC. Thirty of the 31 deaths involved drowning when a caregiver was not present. Additionally, Commission staff estimates that 2,300 infant bath tub-related injuries were treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments during this same time period.
Even with the new standard in place, CPSC advises parents and caregivers to be cautious when using infant bath tubs and to follow these safety tips.
- Never leave young children alone, even for a moment, near any water.
- Always keep a young child in a bath tub within arm’s reach. If you must leave, take the child with you.
- Don't leave a baby or toddler in a bath tub under the care of another young child.
- Learn CPR. It can be a lifesaver when seconds count.
Remember, baby bath tubs are not babysitters. They are bath aides. Stay vigilant at all times when your child is in or near water
The Commission voted unanimously (5-0) to approve the new federal mandatory standard for infant bath tubs on March 24, 2017.
The Commission is required by the Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act, Section 104(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), to issue consumer product safety standards for durable infant or toddler products. In the past 7 years, the Commission has approved new federal safety standards for durable infant or toddler products, including full-size cribs, non-full-size cribs, play yards, baby walkers, infant bath seats, children’s portable bed rails, strollers, toddler beds, infant swings, handheld infant carriers, soft infant carriers, framed infant carriers, bassinets, cradles, portable hook-on chairs and infant sling carriers.
FTC Sending Refund Checks Totaling More Than $9.8 Million to People Who Were Charged for “Free Trials” for Health Products - Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission is mailing 227,000 refund checks totaling more than $9.8 million to people who bought “fat burning” and “weight loss” products and other dietary supplements, DVDs, or skin creams, including Pure Green Coffee Bean Plus and RKG Extreme, from Health Formulas LLC and related companies. The average refund amount is $43.
According to the FTC’s October 2014 complaint, Health Formulas LLC, its owners, and its related companies, including Simple Pure Nutrition, advertised their products using fake “free trials,” tricked people into disclosing credit and debit card information, and then enrolled them without their permission in a costly negative-option membership program that charged them monthly for new shipments. The defendants also allegedly made misleading claims about their weight loss products.
The July 2016 court order settling the FTC’s charges permanently banned Health Formulas, its owners Jason and Danelle Miller, and the other 41 corporations they controlled from advertising or selling weight-loss supplements and negative option sales plans, and prohibited them from making unsupported health claims for other products, debiting people’s bank accounts without their consent, and calling consumers who asked not to be called again. It also required them to turn over approximately $10 million in assets.
In 2015, two other individual defendants and a corporation they controlled agreed to an order settling the charges against them. The order, entered in February 2016, required them to turn over more than $664,000 in assets.
Epiq Systems, Inc., the refund administrator for this matter, will begin mailing refund checks today. The checks must be cashed within 60 days or they will become void. Recipients should note that the FTC never requires consumers to pay money or provide information to cash refund checks. If you have questions or believe you are entitled to a refund check but did not receive one, please call 1-800-690-2366.
Port of Long Beach Sets Record for September - Port of Long Beach
Caps off best quarter ever with 2.1 million cargo containers handled
Cargo volume continues to break records at the Port of Long Beach, which moved more containers last month than any September in its history.
The 701,619 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) processed in Long Beach for September — up 28.3 percent — also resulted in the Port’s best quarter ever. In the third quarter (July, August and September), the Port of Long Beach handled 2,114,306 TEUs, as volumes swelled 15.9 percent over the same period last year.
“Simply put, we are having the best trade months in Port history,” said Harbor Commission President Lou Anne Bynum. “Back-to-school merchandise was strong for us, and it looks like retailers are optimistic about the holiday season.”
Imports increased 29.5 percent in September to 366,298 TEUs. Exports rose 4.1 percent, to 125,336 containers. Empty containers moving out of Long Beach to be refilled with goods overseas totaled 209,985 TEUs, up 46.4 percent. The huge jump in cargo last month relative to a year ago is only partly due to the Hanjin bankruptcy that hit West Coast ports in September 2016.
“Our continuing recovery is due to our best-in-the-industry customer service, and the best terminals and infrastructure in the nation for shippers who need to rapidly transport cargo,” said Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero. “We’re expecting to have great numbers right through the end of the year and challenge 2007 for our highest annual container volume in history.”
Volumes have been strong throughout the summer with 9 percent gains in June, 13 percent increases in July and an 8 percent improvement in August. July was the Port’s busiest month ever, and now September is the third-busiest ever. For the calendar year, container volumes have surged 8.9 percent