The U.S. Supreme Court released its 6-2 ruling in Kasten v. St. Gobain that an employee’s oral assertion of objections qualifies as filing a complaint under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA). The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and others filed an amicus brief in this case arguing that the Fair Labor Standards Act provision is clear and narrower than similar provisions under other federal civil rights statutes which prohibit retaliation based on an individual’s mere opposition to an employment practice. The Supreme Court ruled otherwise.

In Ford Motor Company v. the U.S., the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a CIT decision, ruling that so long as an importer's claim for post-entry duty refunds for NAFTA preferential treatment of imports was timely filed within one year of importation, the Court of International Trade has jurisdiction to consider whether Customs should accept Ford’s late-filed NAFTA Certificates of Origin.

The Watanabe Group asked the Court of International Trade to reconsider and vacate its decision upholding the ITA’s assignment of the China-wide rate of 258.21% in the antidumping duty administrative review of certain lined paper products from China for the period September 2007 through August 2008.

Russian producer-exporter PSC challenged the International Trade Administration’s use of a 43.58% adverse antidumping duty rate in the April 2007 - March 2008 AD review of magnesium metal from Russia. PSC VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation and VSMPO-Tirus, U.S., Inc. (collectively, PSC) had withdrawn from the review, citing the burden of multiple verifications, among other causes.

Lindsey Manufacturing Company and two of its executives have filed a motion to dismiss their indictment on paying bribes to employees of Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), a state-owned utility company, in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The defendants will argue that employees of a state owned corporation do not qualify as foreign officials under the FCPA. A hearing on the motion is scheduled for March 21, 2011.

In the May 2007 - April 2008 antidumping duty administrative review of ball bearings and parts thereof from Japan, the International Trade Administration selected only the 4 largest producer/exporters as mandatory respondents and reviewed no others, “due to limited resources.” Asahi Seiko Co., Ltd. challenged the results, arguing that by not being selected for review it was deprived of the chance to possibly earn revocation by demonstrating zero or de minimis margins. However, the court ruled that because it withdrew its request for review when the 4 mandatory respondents were selected (in an attempt to avoid being assigned the “all others” rate), Asahi failed to exhaust its administrative remedies and therefore could not challenge the review results. See ITT’s Online Archives or 11/22/10 news, 10112204, for BP summary of similar court decision on the prior year’s review) (Slip Op. 11-24, dated 03/01/11)

In the second remand of the April 2006 -- March 2007 antidumping duty administrative review of pure and alloyed magnesium metal from the Russian Federation, the Court of International Trade ordered the International Trade Administration to recalculate the value of chlorine gas used in the production process. Producer/exporter PSC VSMPO Avisma Corporation and VSMPA Tirus, U.S., Inc. challenged the ITA’s subsequent redetermination results, arguing that the agency relied on an incorrect database in its recalculations. However, the court found the agency had supported its decision with substantial evidence and dismissed the plaintiff’s claim. (See ITT’s Online Archives or 09/02/10 news, 10090217, for BP summary of prior court decision.)

In Chubb Insurance Company of Europe S.A., v. UPS Supply Chain Solutions, Inc.¹, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Central District of California ruled that “third party” suits seeking indemnification² and contribution (compensation) in connection with international air cargo shipments are rights to recourse and therefore, are not subject to the Montreal Convention's two-year statute of limitations on the right to damages.

U.S. importers Calgon Carbon Corporation and Norit Americas, Inc., as well as two Chinese producer exporters, in a consolidated suit, challenged different aspects of the final results of the first antidumping administrative review of certain activated carbon from China, covering the period October 11, 2006 through March 31, 2008. The Court of International Trade ruled that the International Trade Administration was not obligated to use combination rates though it had done so in the preceding investigation, finding that nothing on the record showed that the ITA was presented with a case of circumvention. The court also ruled that zeroing (excluding U.S. sales made at or above fair value from the weighted average margin) was permissible at the time of the review. However, the court remanded for further review the ITA’s denial of a separate rate for Chinese producer Hebei Foreign Trade and Advertising Corporation, various surrogate values for principal manufacturing components, and the labor rate for Chinese manufacturing. (Slip-Op. 11-21, dated 02/17/11)

Domestic producers U.S. Steel Corporation and Nucor Corporation challenged the International Trade Administration’s methods in the final results of the August 2006 -- July 2007 antidumping duty administrative review of corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products from Korea. The domestic producers faulted the ITA for failing to adjust Union Steel Manufacturing Co., Ltd. of Korea’s costs to account for steel substrate purchases from affiliated suppliers, and for not collapsing or grouping Pohang Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. and Pohang Coated Steel Co., Ltd. (collectively, POSCO) together with Union as a single entity in the AD calculations. The CIT granted the ITA’s voluntary remand request to review its decision not to include an adjustment for the value of steel substrates supplied by affiliates, and ordered the agency to review its decision not to collapse Union and POSCO and treat them as a single entity. (Slip-Op. 11-19, dated 02/15/11)