The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of July 25-31:
The head of medical testing company LabMD said he will appeal the FTC's ruling released Friday that found his company liable for unfair data security practices. Almost five months after oral argument (see 1603080005), the commission voted 3-0 to issue the opinion, which overturned a decision by its own in-house judge, who dismissed the case against the company in November. Chairwoman Edith Ramirez, who wrote the opinion, concluded the administrative law judge (ALJ) applied the wrong legal standard for unfairness.
The head of medical testing company LabMD said he will appeal the FTC's ruling released Friday that found his company liable for unfair data security practices. Almost five months after oral argument (see 1603080005), the commission voted 3-0 to issue the opinion, which overturned a decision by its own in-house judge, who dismissed the case against the company in November. Chairwoman Edith Ramirez, who wrote the opinion, concluded the administrative law judge (ALJ) applied the wrong legal standard for unfairness.
The White House on July 25 countered Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s threat to withdraw the U.S. from the World Trade Organization if the WTO goes against his plans to raise tariffs on exports from companies that moved their U.S. operations overseas. In response to a question about Trump's discussion of the WTO, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest touted the enforcement mechanisms the WTO provides, highlighting a case the U.S. filed earlier this month against Chinese duties on several raw materials exports (see 1607190039) and added that leaving the WTO could jeopardize global supply chain relationships (here). For example, that could inhibit U.S. companies’ ability to import integral auto parts and support autoworkers, he said. The issue came up on the July 24 episode of Meet the Press (here) when host Chuck Todd suggested to guest Trump that some of his planned tariff increases would be shot down at the WTO. “It doesn't matter,” Trump responded. “Then we're going to renegotiate or we're going to pull out. These trade deals are a disaster, Chuck. World Trade Organization is a disaster.”
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of July 18-24:
Senate Finance Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and House Ways and Means Ranking Member Sandy Levin, D-Mich., urged U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom to work more closely to enforce international trade regulations. In a letter (here), the lawmakers noted that the U.S. and China have collaborated at the World Trade Organization and other multilateral bodies on trade enforcement, including leveling a joint WTO case effort against Chinese export restrictions on raw materials (see 1607190039), but they said other cooperation hasn’t gone far enough. An EU official countered the lawmakers' claims, saying in an email that this was the third joint WTO action filed by the U.S. and EU, showing that "we do work together, and effectively." Experts in the European Commission, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Department should collaborate on whether the upcoming expiration of a section of China’s WTO Accession Protocol in December obligates countries to deem China a market economy, the lawmakers said. China argues that the expiration of the protocol section that stipulates China can be treated as a non-market economy for antidumping purposes underlies an obligation for other countries to treat it as a market economy.
Concerns over potential technical and procedural issues related to the deployment of as-yet-unproven quota systems in ACE are leaving customs brokers uncertain on the eve of the July 23 ACE deadline for most remaining entry types, said brokers in interviews. A lack of real world testing and changes to quota business practices means some brokers aren’t entirely sure what’s going to happen after the deadline. The uncertainty is compounded by the simultaneous decommissioning of legacy Automated Commercial System, which leaves filers without a fallback that has been particularly valuable in the truck environment.
An importer of aluminum extrusions from China that paid a 374.15% AD duty cash deposit owes a 374.15% assessment, even though the "all others" rate was subsequently lowered to 7.37% in litigation, the Court of International Trade said in a decision issued July 20 (here). Because the importer did not participate in the court case that lowered the rate, or in any administrative review that could have resulted in a different assessment, Capella Sales & Services owes duties at the cash deposit rate in effect at time of entry, even if it was later invalidated, the court said.
Cable and telco trade groups asked the FCC for more time to reply in a rulemaking on revising the agency's special access framework for business data services (BDS). In a motion Tuesday in docket 16-143, NCTA, USTelecom and ITTA said the July 26 deadline should be delayed 21 days to give parties more time to address voluminous initial comments and various complexities, including evolving industry data and related BDS market analysis.
Cable and telco trade groups asked the FCC for more time to reply in a rulemaking on revising the agency's special access framework for business data services (BDS). In a motion Tuesday in docket 16-143, NCTA, USTelecom and ITTA said the July 26 deadline should be delayed 21 days to give parties more time to address voluminous initial comments and various complexities, including evolving industry data and related BDS market analysis.