The U.S. this week arrested a dual U.S.-Iranian national living in Massachusetts and an Iranian national, charging both with conspiring to ship "sophisticated electronic components" from the U.S. to Iran in violation of U.S. export controls and sanctions.
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.
Canadian-German national Klaus Pflugbeil, a resident of China, was sentenced Dec. 16 to two years in prison for conspiring to steal and transmit a U.S.-based electric vehicle company's trade secrets, DOJ announced. Pflugbeil pleaded guilty in June, admitting to trying to use a U.S. company's trade secrets to set up his own business in China (see 2406140025). Pflugbeil was originally charged alongside his business partner, Yilong Shao, who remains at large.
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Dec. 16 issued its mandate in a customs suit on the classification of importer Shamrock Building Materials' steel tubing with insulating material (Shamrock Building Materials v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1648).
A recent Court of International Trade decision reviewing the Commerce Department's differential pricing methodology under Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo is relevant to resolve a nearly identical claim in a separate case, the U.S. told the trade court in a notice of supplemental authority (Shanghai Tainai Bearing Co. v. United States, CIT # 24-00025).
The U.S. opened a customs penalty suit against New York-based importer Courtside Market last week, accusing the company of negligently skirting duties on its inkjet fabric rolls (United States v. Courtside Market, CIT # 24-00233).
The Commerce Department failed to consider whether importer Hardware Resources' edge-glued wood boards were wood mouldings and millwork products when it included the goods in the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on wood mouldings and millwork products from China, the Court of International Trade held on Dec. 16. In his first decision since joining the court, Judge Joseph Laroski said Commerce "ignored the threshold question of whether the product at issue is a wood moulding or millwork product."
The World Trade Organization officially set the dates for the 14th Ministerial Conference, which will be held in Cameroon: March 26-29, 2026. It will be the second ministerial conference hosted by an African nation. Kenya was the site of the 2015 conference.
Cameroon formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies Dec. 16, bringing the number of countries that have accepted the deal to 88. The WTO needs 23 more to reach the two-thirds of the membership threshold for the agreement to take effect.
The Council of the European Union announced a new prohibition on the recognition or enforcement of rulings from Russian courts, it announced as part of its most recent sanctions package on Russia this week. The move was based on Article 248 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation and notes that rulings from Russian courts have prevented opposing parties from starting or continuing proceedings in jurisdictions other than Russia "in clear violation of established international principles and practices."