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International Trade
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April 24, 2013
Indonesia Eases Import Restrictions After US Complains
Indonesia said Wednesday it would ease import restrictions on some types of plant products, a move that came a little over a month after the U.S. told the World Trade Organization that the country's regulations were discriminating against foreign goods.
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April 24, 2013
Steel Cos. Ask Fed. Circ. To Revive Mexican Duties
Two American steel producers urged the Federal Circuit on Friday to overturn the findings of a U.S. International Trade Commission sunset review that in 2011 revoked anti-dumping duties on Mexican stainless steel sheet and strip.
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April 24, 2013
InterOil Adopts Poison Pill As Suitors Line Up For $6B JV
InterOil Corp. has adopted a poison pill designed to keep any hostile bidder under 20 percent as it weighs possible joint venture partners for its $6 billion liquefied natural gas export project in Papua New Guinea, the company said Wednesday.
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April 24, 2013
Tianjin Magnesium Must Pay Fees In Duty Fight, CIT Says
A federal judge told Tianjin Magnesium International Co. Ltd. on Tuesday to cover a portion of the litigation fees and costs of the U.S. Department of Commerce and US Magnesium LLC in a court battle over the China-based magnesium exporter's 2005 anti-dumping rate.
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April 24, 2013
Baucus Calls For Fast-Track Trade Authority By June
The top two members of the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday again pushed for quick renewal of so-called fast-track authority to help seal a planned Asia-Pacific free trade pact, with Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., asking for legislative action by June.
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April 23, 2013
Argentina Wants Names In Ralph Lauren Bribery Case
Argentina on Tuesday said it wants the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to identify Argentine officials who took bribes from Ralph Lauren Corp. and provide proof of the scheme, after the company agreed to pay over $1.6 million to U.S. authorities for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
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April 23, 2013
China OKs Marubeni's $3.6B Gavilon Buy With Conditions
Chinese antitrust regulators have signed off on Marubeni Corp.'s $3.6 billion purchase of Gavilon Holdings LLC but imposed restrictions meant to counter potential threats to competition in the market for soybean imports to China, the country's Commerce Ministry said Tuesday.
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April 23, 2013
Nail Importer Tells Fed. Circ. That Comments Were Futile
A domestic importer of Chinese nails asked the Federal Circuit on Monday to revive its case challenging an anti-dumping duty, arguing the company shouldn't have been required to refile comments about the duty because the U.S. Department of Commerce had already expressly rejected their argument.
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April 23, 2013
Dominion CEO Calls For Federal Energy Czar
Dominion Resources Inc.'s CEO on Tuesday urged the Obama administration to consider creating an energy czar and eliminating some of the vast regulatory overlaps that burden the sector, calling energy regulators, Congress and the industry "an orchestra that has more conductors than musicians."
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April 23, 2013
ITC Rejects Motorola Bid For IPhone Import Ban
The U.S. International Trade Commission on Monday shut down a bid by Google Inc.'s Motorola Mobility Inc. unit for a ban on imports of Apple Inc.'s iPhone, ruling that the patent Motorola asserted is invalid as obvious.
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April 23, 2013
Gov't Fires Back In Del Monte's Fed. Circ. Tuna Tariff Appeal
The U.S. government on Monday pushed back in Del Monte Corp.'s Federal Circuit appeal that alleges flavored tuna pouches it imported were misclassified as “tuna in oil,” saying the designation is appropriate even if there are only trace amounts of oil in the packs.
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April 23, 2013
FDA Ordered To Create New Deadlines For Food Safety Rules
A California federal judge on Monday told the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to establish new deadlines for the rollout of Food Safety Modernization Act rules, finding the agency broke the law by failing to meet deadlines set by Congress.
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April 23, 2013
Fla. Growers Sue Commerce Over Mexican Tomato Pact
Domestic tomato growers hit the U.S. government with a lawsuit Friday over the recent reinstatement of a trade agreement with Mexico on the price of imported tomatoes, saying the deal didn't do enough to stop cheap Mexican tomatoes from harming American producers.
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April 22, 2013
Ralph Lauren FCPA Deal Puts NPAs In Fashion
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rewarded Ralph Lauren Corp. for its cooperation in a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case by handing out the agency’s first-ever nonprosecution agreement, taking a carrot-and-stick approach that experts say could mark the beginning of a new trend.
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April 22, 2013
Honey Producers Allege Chinese Smuggling Plot
Three U.S. honey producers hit Honey Holding I Ltd. with a proposed class action in Illinois federal court Friday claiming that it defrauded the U.S. government and domestic honey makers by "laundering" cheap, altered versions of the sweetener to conceal its Chinese origin.
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April 22, 2013
Alpinestars Seeks Lower Duties For Motocross Boots
Motorcycle apparel maker Alpinestars SpA urged the U.S. Court of International Trade on Thursday to reclassify its Tech 8 motocross boot as protective sportswear and not footwear, a distinction that subjects the item to a substantially higher duty rate.
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April 22, 2013
Samsung Must Give Product Info To Ericsson, ITC Judge Says
A U.S. International Trade Commission judge ruled Thursday that Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. had to give information on some of its planned products to Ericsson Inc., but didn't go nearly as far into the future as Ericsson had requested in its patent fight against the Korean smartphone giant.
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April 22, 2013
Okada Review Blasts Wynn Resorts' 'Biased' FCPA Probe
Kazuo Okada on Monday said an investigation commissioned by his attorneys has found fault with Wynn Resorts Ltd.’s 2012 probe that alleged the Japanese billionaire and his companies violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and led to Okada’s loss of a 20 percent stake in the casino empire.
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April 22, 2013
Ralph Lauren To Pay $1.6M To Settle Argentine Bribery Claims
Ralph Lauren Corp. has agreed to pay more than $1.6 million to settle allegations that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by bribing government officials in Argentina in order to ship merchandise into the country without proper customs clearance, authorities said Monday.
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April 19, 2013
DC Circ. Greenlights DOT Cross-Border Trucking Program
The D.C. Circuit gave its blessing on Friday to a cross-border trucking program with Mexico, rejecting a union's claims that the program was unlawful because the U.S. Department of Transportation held Mexican trucks to lower safety and emissions standards than American ones.
Expert Analysis
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Patent Litigation Outcomes At ITC Vs. District Courts
The rapid increase in patent infringement litigation at the U.S. International Trade Commission since 2009 has been controversial — the ITC is at once said to be too complainant-friendly, leading to litigation abuse by nonpracticing entities, and a hostile forum for complainants, more likely than U.S. district courts to invalidate patents. A closer look clearly shows that both assumptions are incorrect, says Jonathan Engler, a partner with Adduci Mastriani & Schaumberg LLP and former attorney in the ITC's Office of General Counsel.
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A Food Industry Issue Menu For 2013: Part 2
Looking at trends in several aspects of food safety law — such as immigration, packaging requirements and environmental concerns — we expect to see a number of significant changes to the food and beverage industry this year, say attorneys with McGuireWoods LLP.
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Plumbing The Murky Depths Of Chinese State Secrecy Law
China's definition of "state secrets" is notoriously vague, and Chinese authorities have been known to bring prosecutions for violation of the nation's state secrecy laws even when the protected nature of the information is highly questionable. The outcome of a recent securities dispute against Ernst & Young will have important implications on the issue of the extra-jurisdictional effects of these laws, say Nick Cherryman and Katherine Raimondo of Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP.
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‘Honey Laundering’ Signals A New Enforcement Era
On Feb. 20, the government announced charges against two heavyweight domestic honey processing companies and five individuals in connection with a global “honey laundering” sting. This case is double-billed as the largest anti-dumping case in U.S. history and the nation’s largest food-fraud case. But the real story may be what it signals about regulators’ amplified focus on supply chain compliance — and how far they'll go to make their charges stick, say T. Markus Funk and Jean-Jacques Cabou of Perkins Coie LLP.
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A Broad Reading Of FCPA's Jurisdiction Over Foreign Cos.
In a recent and rare court ruling regarding the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Southern District of New York rejected several defenses commonly used by foreign nationals to lawsuits brought in the United States. If followed by other courts, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Elek Straub decision clears the way for increased prosecutions of foreign nationals under the FCPA, say attorneys with Nixon Peabody LLP.
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The Devil Is In 'Where To Disclose' Supply Chain Details
While most compliance and supply chain professionals by now generally appreciate the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act’s objective and basic mechanics, a visit to the homepage of your favorite manufacturer or retailer is likely to reveal that there continues to be a surprising level of confusion over something exceptionally basic: namely, where the disclosure must be announced, say attorneys with Perkins Coie LLP.
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A Food Industry Issue Menu For 2013: Part 1
This year is sure to bring a number of significant changes to the food and beverage industry, especially given the 2012 election results and the continued momentum of several hot topics from 2012 that attracted the attention of government officials, agencies and the general public. Food labeling, food safety and taxes on sweetened beverages are a few areas in which we expect to see such changes, say attorneys with McGuireWoods LLP and McGuireWoods Consulting LLC.
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Questioning NPE Use Of The ITC Is Not 'Hype'
In a recent Law360 Expert Analysis article, Deanna Tanner Okun, a former chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission, responds to critics of ITC handling of nonpracticing entity cases. While Okun makes a number of pertinent and thoughtful observations, on certain issues she misses the point, says Paul Roeder, deputy general counsel for litigation at Hewlett-Packard Co.
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UK Bribery Act Enforcement Is On The Horizon
The 18 months since the U.K.'s Bribery Act came into force have not been filled with the enforcement activity some expected or hoped for. But we anticipate the first cases may be just around the corner. The Bribery Act enforcement actions to date can be seen as the Serious Fraud Office clearing its books and readying itself to tackle future case load, say Lisa Navarro and Kara Bombach of Greenberg Traurig LLP.
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ITC Is A More Desirable Venue In The Wake Of AIA
As provided by several provisions of the America Invents Act, patent owners now have an additional reason to turn to the U.S. International Trade Commission for relief. In particular, the AIA places certain requirements on patent owners that make it more difficult to join multiple accused infringers in one civil action, while neither Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 nor the ITC’s rules impose any such restrictions, says Thomas Martin of Baker Botts LLP.