The Court of International Trade on May 5 upheld the Commerce Department's rejection of Vietnamese steel exporter Vnsteel-Phu My Flat Steel Co.'s (PMF) quantity and value questionnaire in an antidumping duty circumvention case. In the opinion, Judge Timothy Reif sided with Commerce, ruling that the agency's decision to instead apply adverse facts available was in accordance with the law, given PMF's incomplete, then untimely resubmission of, the Q&V questionnaire form.
Four of the biggest Trade Act Section 301 litigation plaintiffs are among the first to get their cases automatically stayed and unassigned to the U.S. Court of International Trade’s three-judge panel, under an April 28 administrative order signed by Chief Judge Mark Barnett (see 2104290002). LG Energy Solution sued (in Pacer) Tuesday to get the List 4A tariffs on Chinese imports vacated, as did Cisco (in Pacer) Monday, while complaints from Chrysler parent FCA (in Pacer) Monday and Tesla (in Pacer) Friday seek to have the Lists 3 and 4A tariffs overturned. Though the court stayed the roughly 3,700 complaints after designating the first-filed HMTX-Jasco litigation as the sample case in the massive litigation, it continued assigning new cases to the three-judge panel Barnett shares with Judges Claire Kelly and Jennifer Choe-Groves. But Barnett expressed worry during an April 26 status conference that a future case would create a conflict requiring one or more of the judges to recuse themselves. Ironies abound in the case LG Energy Solution filed against the government. LG and rival electric-vehicle battery manufacturer SK Innovation were embroiled in a trade secrets fight at the International Trade Commission, when U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai helped broker a compromise that settled the dispute in mid-April (see 2104150058). Yet LG’s Section 301 complaint names Tai as a defendant because her agency continues to supervise the tariffs on Chinese imports originally imposed in the Trump administration under her predecessor, Robert Lighthizer. Akin Gump, which represents HMTX-Jasco in the sample case, filed on LG’s behalf.
Expect the FTC's new rulemaking group to actively work to fill gaps left in its authority by a recent Supreme Court decision (see 2104270086), former officials said in interviews. Some anticipate more administrative litigation over consumer protection cases.
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
Expect the FTC's new rulemaking group to actively work to fill gaps left in its authority by a recent Supreme Court decision (see 2104270086), former officials said in interviews. Some anticipate more administrative litigation over consumer protection cases.
The Commerce Department will no longer apply adverse facts available to the antidumping rate for an Indian shrimp exporter, it said in remand results filed May 4 (Calcutta Seafoods Pvt. Ltd. v. U.S., CIT # 19-00201). The filing follows a Feb. 3 Court of International Trade decision which found that Commerce did not aid a small, first-time mandatory respondent to an AD case enough and unlawfully applied AFA to the exporter (see 2102030006). Commerce will now use neutral facts available, leading the agency to drop frozen warmwater shrimp exporter Elque Group's dumping margin to 27.66% from 110.9%.
Expect the FTC's new rulemaking group to actively work to fill gaps left in its authority by a recent Supreme Court decision (see 2104270086), former officials said in interviews. Some anticipate more administrative litigation over consumer protection cases.
Although a court opinion last week cleared the way for exports of 3D-printed guns to be removed from State Department jurisdiction, the guns will continue to be covered under the agency’s U.S. Munitions List until the ruling is made official, the State Department said.
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of April 26 - May 2: