WASHINGTON — The Bush administration announced new trade cases against China on Monday over copyright piracy and restrictions on the sale of American movies, music and books.

Standing near a table of pirated movie DVDs, music CDs and books, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said American companies were losing billions of dollars annually from piracy levels in China that "remain unacceptably high."

She said the United States would file the two cases on Tuesday with the World Trade Organization, the Geneva-based organization that oversees trade disputes.

One case will contend that Beijing's lax enforcement of copyright and trademark protections##

The action marked the latest move against China on the part of the Bush administration, which is trying to deal with rising political anger over soaring U.S. trade deficits.

The trade cases exposed a split in the business community: The film, music and book publishing industries supported the move while some other industries were concerned over whether the aggressive approach to China could result in retribution.

CRUDE OIL PRICE FALLS ON SUPPLY GLUT

NEW YORK — The price of crude oil fell nearly $3 and settled below $62 a barrel Monday on a supply glut at a key North American delivery point as geopolitical tensions loomed.

An oversupply at the storage hub in Cushing, Okla., while localized, had a disproportionate effect on prices, said Citigroup Global Markets energy analyst Tim Evans.

Because the hub serves as a delivery point for oil, the facility is the "Achilles heel" for the petroleum market, he said. As it nears capacity, dealers have no place to store more oil should they want to take advantage of low prices on the May futures contract, which expires April 20, Evans said.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery fell $2.77 to settle at $61.51 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude for May fell $1.65 to settle at $66.59 a barrel in electronic trading on London's ICE Futures Exchange.

However, Iran's claim Monday that it has begun enriching uranium on an industrial scale did spark some selling, said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago.

LOAN COMPANY PAID FEES FOR LOAN OFFICER

ALBANY, N.Y. — A student loan company paid consulting fees to a student loan officer at Johns Hopkins University, paid for some of her graduate school tuition, and also paid consulting fees to officials at two other colleges, investigators said Monday.

In a letter sent to Johns Hopkins President William Brody, investigators for New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is leading the investigation, said they believe Student Loan Xpress, a unit of CIT Group Inc., paid more than $21,000 for the school's director of student financial services to attend graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania between August 2002 to January 2004.

Investigators also believe the official, Ellen Frishberg, was paid $42,000 as a consultant for the company from April 2004 to October 2005. Frishberg was placed on paid leave pending an inquiry by the university into the circumstances of the payments, said Johns Hopkins spokesman Dennis O'Shea. He said the university is cooperating with the attorney general's request.

DOW CHEMICAL SHARES RISE ON BUYOUT NEWS

NEW YORK — Shares of Dow Chemical Co. rose almost 5 percent Monday after a British newspaper reported a group of Middle Eastern investors and U.S. buyout firms was preparing a bid for the huge chemicals and plastics maker.

But Dow Chemical said Monday it's not in discussions about a leveraged buyout.

The Sunday Express, a British tabloid, reported over the weekend that the group has secured financing backing for a $50 billion bid for the Midland, Mich.-based chemicals company. That would be the biggest leveraged buyout ever.

The Express reported the investment team, which includes private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is preparing#$44.47 on Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. The market was closed on Good Friday.

Dow Chemical's stock jumped $2.16, or 4.9 percent, to $46.63 in regular trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange after rising to a new 52-week high of $47.60 earlier in the session.

WAL-MART GRANTED GAG ORDER OVER SECURITY LEAKS

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Wal-Mart won a gag order to stop a fired security operative from talking to reporters and a judge ordered him to provide Wal-Mart attorneys with "the names of all persons to whom he has transmitted, since January 15, 2007, any Wal-Mart information."

The court papers made public Monday follow a string of revelations about the retailer's large surveillance operations and its business plans. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. filed a lawsuit and request for a temporary restraining order directly with a Circuit Court judge after court hours Friday.

In the lawsuit, Wal-Mart alleges that former security operative Bruce Gabbard violated trade secrets law by revealing to reporters "confidential information about Wal-Mart security systems and operations" and "highly confidential information about Wal-Mart's strategic planning." It seeks unspecified damages.

The judge's temporary order bars Gabbard from disclosing any further Wal-Mart trade secrets or confidential information.

The suit and restraining order were filed two days after Wal-Mart apologized to activist shareholders for Gabbard's revelation that they were considered potential threats and ahead of a story in Monday's editions of the Wall Street Journal on Gabbard's claim that Wal-Mart had a super-secret "Project Red" aimed at bolstering its stagnant share price.

CITIGROUP TO ANNOUNCE CORPORATE OVERHAUL

NEW YORK — Citigroup Inc. chairman and chief executive Charles Prince said Monday he would release details of cost-cutting steps later this week, including the consolidation of some operations and moving others to lower-cost locations.

In a memo to employees made available to The Associated Press, Prince said the cuts were aimed at "eliminating expenses while advancing our core strategic growth objectives." The process, he said, "has been and will be challenging."

He sketched broad outlines of the overhaul, but said specifics would be released at a Web conference Wednesday. Prince indicated the cutbacks would be throughout Citigroup's operations worldwide. Citigroup, the nation's largest financial institution, has more than 327,000 workers in more than 100 countries.

Media reports about the financial review, which has been under way since the fourth quarter, have said 26,000 workers could lose their jobs or be reassigned. Cost savings could approach $2 billion a year, they said.