Petitions for the Imposition of Antidumping and Countervailing Duties on Freight Rail Couplers and Parts thereof from the People's Republic of China and the United Mexican States - Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP
I. Type of Action: Antidumping Duty (“AD”): China and Mexico ; Countervailing Duty (“CVD”): China
II. Product: The scope of this investigation covers certain freight railcar couplers (also known as “fits” or “assemblies”) and parts thereof. Freight railcar couplers are composed of two main parts, namely knuckles and coupler bodies but may also include other items (e.g., coupler locks, lock lift assemblies, knuckle pins, knuckle throwers, and rotors). The parts covered by the investigation include: (1) E coupler bodies; (2) E/F coupler bodies; (3) F coupler bodies; (4) E knuckles; (5) F knuckles; as set forth by the Association of American Railroads (AAR). The freight rail coupler parts are included within the scope of the investigation when imported individually.
Subject freight railcar couplers and parts are included within the scope whether finished or unfinished, whether imported individually or with other subject or nonsubject parts, whether assembled or unassembled, whether mounted or unmounted, or if joined with nonsubject merchandise, such as other nonsubject parts or a completed railcar. Finishing includes, but is not limited to, arc washing, welding, grinding, shot blasting, heat treatment, machining, and assembly of various parts. When a subject coupler or subject parts are mounted on or to other nonsubject merchandise, such as a railcar, only the coupler or subject parts are covered by the scope.
The finished products covered by the scope of this investigation meet or exceed the AAR specifications of M-211, “Foundry and Product Approval Requirements for the Manufacture of Couplers, Coupler Yokes, Knuckles, Follower Blocks, and Coupler Parts” and/or AAR M-215 “Coupling Systems,” or other equivalent domestic or international standards (including any revisions to the standard(s)).
The country of origin for subject couplers and parts thereof, whether fully assembled, unfinished or finished, or attached to a railcar, is the country where the subject coupler parts were cast or forged. Subject merchandise includes coupler parts as defined above that have been further processed or further assembled, including those coupler parts attached to a railcar in third countries. Further processing includes, but is not limited to, arc washing, welding, grinding, shot blasting, heat treatment, painting, coating, priming, machining, and assembly of various parts. The inclusion, attachment, joining, or assembly of nonsubject parts with subject parts or couplers either in the country of manufacture of the in-scope product or in a third country does not remove the subject parts or couplers from the scope.
III. HTS Classifications: The couplers that are the subject of this investigation are currently classifiable in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) statistical reporting number 8607.30.1000. Unfinished subject merchandise may also enter under HTSUS statistical reporting number 7326.90.8688. Subject merchandise attached to finished railcars may also enter under HTSUS statistical reporting numbers 8606.10.0000, 8606.30.0000, 8606.91.0000, 8606.92.0000, 8606.99.0130, 8606.99.0160, or under subheading 9803.00.5000 if imported as an Instrument of International Traffic. Subject merchandise may also be imported under HTSUS statistical reporting number 7325.99.50.
IV. Date of Filing: September 28, 2022
V. Petitioners: Coalition of Freight Coupler Producers (i.e., McConway & Torley LLC and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union)
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 Margins (No CVD Margins Listed, Margins are BPI and Therefore are Estimates): China: 115>% Mexico: 165>%
IX. Comments:
A. Projected date of ITC Preliminary Conference: October 19, 2022.
B. The earliest theoretical date for retroactive suspension of liquidation for the AD is December 7, 2022; CVD is October 18, 2022.
Please contact our office for a complete projected schedule for the AD/CVD investigations.
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 alleged subsidy programs.
If you have questions regarding how this investigation may impact current and future imports of scope merchandise or whether a particular product is within the scope of the investigation, please contact one of our attorneys.
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Federal Register Notices:
• Covered Merchandise Referral and Initiation of Covered Merchandise Inquiry: Certain Carbon Steel Butt-Weld Pipe Fittings From the People's Republic of China: Notice of Covered Merchandise Referral and Initiation of Covered Merchandise Inquiry
• Investigations; Determinations, Modifications, and Rulings, etc.: Emulsion Styrene-Butadiene Rubber From Czechia and Russia; Hearing Update for the Subject Investigations
• Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Investigations, Orders, or Reviews: Notice of Scope Ruling Applications Filed in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings
• Forged Steel Fittings From the People's Republic of China: Notice of Court Decision Not in Harmony With the Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; Notice of Amended Final Results
• Investigations; Determinations, Modifications, and Rulings, etc.: Certain Knitted Footwear; Notice of a Commission Determination Not To Review an Initial Determination Granting a Joint Motion To Terminate the Investigation in its Entirety Based Upon Settlement; Termination of the Investigation
• Investigations; Determinations, Modifications, and Rulings, etc.: Certain Wearable Electronic Devices With ECG Functionality and Components Thereof; Notice of a Commission Determination To Review in Part a Final Initial Determination Finding a Violation of Section 337; Request for Written Submissions on the Issues Under Review and on Remedy, the Public Interest, and Bonding; Extension of the Target Date
• Certain Amorphous Silica Fabric From China; Determinations
• Lemon Juice From Brazil and South Africa; Revised Schedule for the Subject Investigations
• Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Investigations, Orders, or Reviews: Certain Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Products From the People's Republic of China: Notice of Initiation of Changed Circumstances Reviews, and Consideration of Revocation of the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders, in Part
• Oil Country Tubular Goods From the Russian Federation: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Final Negative Critical Circumstances Determination
• Antidumping Duty Order on Certain Large Vertical Shaft Engines Between 225cc and 999cc, and Parts Thereof From the People's Republic of China: Final Results of Changed Circumstances Review; Correction
• Emulsion Styrene-Butadiene Rubber From Mexico: Preliminary Results of the Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2020-2021
• Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's Republic of China: Notice of Initiation of Changed Circumstances Reviews, and Consideration of Revocation of the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders, in Part
• Oil Country Tubular Goods From the Republic of Korea: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination
• Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet From the People's Republic of China: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2020-2021; Correction
• Certain Vertical Shaft Engines Between 99cc and Up To 225cc, and Parts Thereof, From the People's Republic of China: Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Circumvention of the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders-Dual-Piston Engines; Rescission in Part
• Sales at Less Than Fair Value; Determinations, Investigations, etc.: Oil Country Tubular Goods From Mexico: Final Affirmative Determinations of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Critical Circumstances
• Oil Country Tubular Goods From the Russian Federation: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and Final Affirmative Critical Circumstances Determination, in Part
• Oil Country Tubular Goods From Argentina: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances
• Certain Steel Nails From the Republic of Turkey: Postponement of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value Investigation
• Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Investigations, Orders, or Reviews: Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet From the People's Republic of China: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2020-2021; Correction
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Biden-Harris Administration to Announce New Effort to Save Americans Money and Spur Competition on Air Travel - U.S. Department of Transportation
New Rulemaking Would Require Airlines and Airline Search Sites to Disclose Fees Upfront
WASHINGTON – Today, at a meeting of the White House Competition Council, President Biden will announce the release of a new proposed rule that would significantly strengthen protections for consumers by ensuring that they have access to certain fee information before they purchase their airline tickets. Under the proposed rule, airlines and travel search websites would have to disclose upfront—the first time an airfare is displayed—any fees charged to sit with your child, for changing or cancelling your flight, and for checked or carry-on baggage. The proposal seeks to provide customers the information they need to choose the best deal. Otherwise, surprise fees can add up quickly and overcome what may look at first to be a cheap fare.
This rulemaking is in response to President Biden’s historic Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy, which established a whole-of-government effort to help lower prices for consumers, raise wages for workers and promote innovation throughout the economy by promoting competition.
At today’s White House Competition Council meeting, President Biden will applaud the Department of Transportation’s action and call on all federal agencies to use their powers to expose and limit fees to help save American families money. The President will discuss how similar unfair, hidden fee practices plague customers in other industries as well—such as internet provider fees and bank and credit overdraft and late fees.
“Airline passengers deserve to know the full, true cost of their flights before they buy a ticket,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “This new proposed rule would require airlines to be transparent with customers about the fees they charge, which will help travelers make informed decisions and save money.”
Under the Department’s proposal, U.S. air carriers, foreign air carriers, and ticket agents (third party sellers of air transportation and online “metasearch” sites that display air travel options) would be required to clearly disclose passenger-specific or itinerary-specific baggage fees, change fees, cancellation fees, and family seating fees to consumers whenever fare and schedule information is provided to consumers for flights to, within, and from the United States. These fees would be required to be displayed as passenger-specific or itinerary-specific based on the consumer’s choice. Because seat availability and fees can fluctuate frequently, the Department is also proposing to require carriers and ticket agents to enable consumers traveling with a young child to purchase the seats with the fare at all points of sale.
The Department further proposes to require that carriers provide useable, current, and accurate information regarding baggage fees, change fees, cancellation fees, and adjacent seating fees for families traveling with young children, if any, to ticket agents that sell or display the carrier’s fare and schedule information.
The President’s Competition EO includes 72 initiatives by more than a dozen federal agencies to promptly tackle some of the most pressing competition problems across our economy. It recognizes that for decades, corporate consolidation has been accelerating. In over 75% of U.S. industries, a smaller number of large companies now control more of the business than they did twenty years ago. That lack of competition drives up prices for consumers and drives down wages for workers. The EO also established a White House Competition Council, of which Secretary Buttigieg is a member, to monitor progress on the initiatives and to coordinate the federal government’s response to the rising power of large corporations in the economy. This rulemaking responds to the EO, which directs the Department to take various actions to promote the interests of American workers, businesses, and consumers, including considering initiating a rulemaking to ensure that consumers have ancillary fee information at the time of ticket purchase.
The Department encourages members of the public and interested parties to submit comments on this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NRPM). Comments must be received within 60 days of the date the notice is published in the Federal Register. The NPRM can be found here.
The issuance of the Enhancing Transparency of Airline Ancillary Service Fees NPRM is one of the many steps the Department is taking to protect consumers. Below are additional actions DOT has taken:
• Earlier this month, the Department rolled out a new airline customer service dashboard to help consumers determine what they are owed when a flight is cancelled or delayed because of an airline issue. Previously, none of the ten largest U.S. airlines guaranteed meals or hotels when a delay or cancellation was within the airlines’ control, and only one offered free rebooking. However, after Secretary Buttigieg called on airlines to improve their service and thanks to the creation of this dashboard, nine airlines now guarantee meals and hotels when an airline issue causes a cancellation or delay and all ten guarantee free rebooking.
• The Department is currently collecting comments on a proposed rule to ensure customers get prompt refunds when their flights are cancelled or delayed. If adopted the proposed rule would: 1) require airlines to proactively inform passengers that they have a right to receive a refund when a flight is canceled or significantly changed, and 2) define a significant change and cancellation that would entitle a consumer to a refund. The rule would also 3) require airlines to provide non-expiring vouchers or travel credits when people can’t travel because they have COVID-19 or other communicable diseases; and 4) require airlines that receive significant government assistance related to a pandemic to issue refunds instead of non-expiring travel credits or vouchers when passengers are unable or advised not to travel because of a serious communicable disease. The Department is also considering options for an additional rulemaking that would further expand the rights of airline passengers who experience flight disruptions.
• The Department has proposed a rule to refund passengers for services they paid for that aren’t actually provided (e.g., broken WiFi).
• The Department’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection recently concluded its investigation of 10 airlines and is pursuing enforcement action against them for extreme delays in providing refunds for flights the airlines canceled or significantly changed. The Office is actively investigating refund practices of additional airlines flying to, from, or within the United States. In November 2021, the Department’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection issued its largest fine ever for extreme delays in providing refunds to thousands of consumers for flights to or from the United States that a carrier canceled.
For information about airline passenger rights, as well as DOT’s rules, guidance and orders, the Department’s aviation consumer website can be found at https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer.
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Cotton Board Rules and Regulations: Adjusting Supplemental Assessment on Imports (2022 Amendments) - Federal Register
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Direct final rule.
SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is amending the Cotton Board Rules and Regulations, increasing the value assigned to imported cotton for the purposes of calculating supplemental assessments collected for use by the Cotton Research and Promotion Program. This amendment is required each year to ensure that assessments collected on imported cotton and the cotton content of imported products will be the same as those paid on domestically produced cotton. In addition, AMS is updating the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) statistical reporting numbers that were amended since the last assessment adjustment in 2021.
DATES: This direct rule is effective November 28, 2022, without further action or notice, unless significant adverse comment is received by October 28, 2022. If significant adverse comment is received, AMS will publish a timely withdrawal of the amendment in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments concerning this direct final rule. Comments may be submitted by mail or hand delivery to Cotton Research and Promotion, Cotton and Tobacco Program, AMS, USDA, 100 Riverside Parkway, Suite 101, Fredericksburg, Virginia 22406 or via the internet at: https://www.regulations.gov. All comments should reference the document number and the date and page number of this issue of the Federal Register. All comments submitted in response to this direct final rule will be included in the record and will be made available to the public and can be viewed at: https://www.regulations.gov.
Please be advised that the identity of the individuals or entities submitting the comments will be made public on the internet at the address provided above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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FDA Releases Overview of Activities Underway to Enhance the Safety of Imported Produce - Food & Drug Administration
Today (9/27/22) the FDA released its Activities to Enhance the Safety of Imported Produce, which provides an overview of the work underway to advance the safety of produce imported into the United States. This overview follows the 2019 release of the Strategy for the Safety of Imported Food (Import Strategy) which described the agency’s comprehensive approach to enhancing the safety of food imported into the United States.
The success of FDA’s imported food safety efforts relies in large part on the safety of produce, since fresh fruit and vegetables represent a significant volume of imported food. Today, the U.S. imports roughly 32% of our fresh vegetables and 55% of our fresh fruit. This latest document, Activities to Enhance the Safety of Imported Produce, describes how the work to help ensure the safety of these commodities is a critical component of the New Era of Smarter Food Safety in building on the preventive standards established by the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
The FDA has long recognized the need to ensure the safety of both imported and domestic produce to meet the agency’s public health mission. This overview is intended to help stakeholders better understand the many tools that are employed to ensure parity of oversight between domestic and foreign-grown produce, and ultimately to ensure safe produce is reaching U.S. consumers.
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CBP Officers Seize over $500,000 in Mixed Narcotics at the Eagle Pass International Bridge - U.S. Customs & Border Protection
EAGLE PASS, Texas — U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations (OFO) at the Eagle Pass International Bridge intercepted $578,456 worth of alleged fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine on September 24, 2022.
“The smuggling of illicit narcotics is a serious international health and security threat,” said (A)Port Director Elizabeth Garduno, Eagle Pass Port of Entry. “CBP will continue to intercept these dangerous drugs through our vigorous enforcement actions.”
On September 24, 2022, CBP officers assigned to the Eagle Pass International Bridge encountered a 22-year-old man driving a black Chevrolet Aveo making entry from Mexico. The vehicle was selected for inspection utilizing non-intrusive inspection (NII) equipment. After conducting a physical inspection, officers discovered 17 packages concealed within the vehicle. The packages contained seven pounds (3.2kg) of alleged fentanyl, 20.9 pounds (9.5kg) of alleged cocaine, and 14.9 pounds (6.8kg) of alleged methamphetamine.
CBP officers seized the narcotics and vehicle. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) arrested the driver and has initiated a criminal investigation.
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Did You Get an Email Saying Your Personal Info is for Sale on the Dark Web? - Federal Trade Commission
People are telling us they’ve gotten emails warning that their sensitive personal information is being sold in the shadowy marketplaces of the dark web. Some emails list the stolen information, like all or part of the person’s Social Security number, date of birth, and driver’s license number. If you’ve gotten one of these emails, take steps to help protect yourself against financial loss from identity theft.
Don’t click a link or use a phone number in the message. It could be a “phishing” email, designed to trick you into disclosing sensitive information to scammers. If you think the message is legit — for example, if you have a credit monitoring service or a credit card with a company that monitors the dark web — contact the company using a website or phone number that you know is real.
Change your passwords to secure your accounts. Start by changing the passwords on your email accounts. Email accounts often are the weak link in online security because password resets for other accounts go to your email. If your email account password has become known, then an identity thief can log into your account and intercept your password reset emails.
Pro tip: When setting up new passwords, consider using a password manager. Free ones are built into most browsers and will automatically create passwords that are hard to guess. Be sure to use different passwords for each account and, if the account offers multifactor authentication, use it for added security.
Check your credit reports. After securing your accounts, make sure nobody has opened new accounts using your information. Visit AnnualCreditReport.com to get an annual free credit report from each of the three nationwide credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Through December 2023, you can get a free credit report every week from each of them at the website. If you find an account or transaction you don’t recognize, visit IdentityTheft.gov to report the identity theft and get a personal recovery plan.
Consider freezing your credit. A credit freeze, also known as a security freeze, is free to place and remove and is the best way to protect against an identity thief opening new accounts in your name. Alternatively, place a free fraud alert on your credit to make it more difficult for an identity thief to get new credit in your name.
Visit IdentityTheft.gov/databreach for more steps to take, depending on what information was exposed. And, if you get one of these emails, please tell us at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.