The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of March 8-14:
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, acting at the “direction” of President Donald Trump, had the authority under the 1974 Trade Act to impose the Lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports, argued a DOJ "master answer" (in Pacer) Friday in one among a series of “anticipated defenses” it plans to mount against the massive litigation inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade. The defenses were layered with a series of fallback arguments, some contradicting others. Lawyers we polled Monday said the tactic was common, based on the proven strategy that DOJ needs only one argument to stick.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, acting at the “direction” of President Donald Trump, had the authority under the 1974 Trade Act to impose the lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports, argued a Department of Justice "master answer" filed March 12 in one among a series of “anticipated defenses” it plans to mount against the massive litigation inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade. The defenses were layered with a series of fallback arguments, some contradicting others. Lawyers asked about the filing said the tactic is common, based on the proven strategy that DOJ needs only one argument to stick.
Sonos’ launch of the Roam portable Bluetooth speaker (see 2103090046) is its expansion outside the four walls of the home, said Ted Dworkin, senior vice president-product management and customer experience, on the company’s virtual investor meeting Tuesday. The $169 portable is available for preorder at Sonos.com and due to deliver by April 20.
The Department of Justice declined to submit additional arguments in defense of President Donald Trump's decision to expand Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs to steel derivatives beyond its original argument in front of the Court of International Trade, guaranteeing that the court will overturn the steel derivatives tariffs but allowing for an appeal.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of March 1-7:
Walmart threw its massive weight behind the Section 301 litigation inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade when it joined thousands of other importers March 8 in seeking to get the lists 3 and 4A Chinese tariffs vacated and the duties refunded. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative overstepped its 1974 Trade Act authority when it waged the retaliatory tariffs against the Chinese and violated the 1946 Administrative Procedure Act by running tariff rulemakings that lacked transparency, the retail giant’s complaint said, mirroring virtually all the 3,500 others filed since the beginning in mid-September. Walmart also joined the roughly two dozen small importers that argue that the list 3 and 4A duties also are “unlawful and unconstitutional” because only Congress has the power of taxation. The tariffs also “were enacted contrary to the Fifth Amendment guarantee of due process of law,” Walmart said. From statements made by President Donald Trump and other officials in his administration, “an additional, if not the sole, reason and purpose for the List 3 additional duties was to collect revenue for the federal general treasury,” the complaint said. “To the extent the List 3 additional duties were revenue collection measures, they were beyond the scope of actions USTR was authorized to take by the Trade Act of 1974 and, therefore, were unlawful.” Hogan Lovells is representing Walmart in the case. USTR didn’t comment.
The next three Fridays will mark some important deadlines in the Section 301 litigation inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade after months of inertia. New complaints continue trickling in at the rate of about one a day to join the roughly 3,500 on file since beginning in mid-September, virtually all seeking to get the Lists 3 and 4A Chinese tariffs vacated and the duties refunded. Many thousands more importers are represented in the filings, including many consumer tech companies -- Bose, Clarion, Denon, Gibson, Harman, Jasco and Voxx among them.
The coming weeks will mark some important deadlines in the Section 301 litigation inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade after months of inertia. New complaints keep trickling in at the rate of about one a day to join the roughly 3,500 on file beginning since mid-September, virtually all seeking to get the lists 3 and 4A Chinese tariffs vacated and the duties refunded. Many thousands more importers are represented in the filings.
Todd Owen, former executive assistant CBP commissioner who worked in the Office of Field Operations before retiring, said during a March 3 webinar that the trade community should expect to see a lot more traditional customs work over the next few years, such as missed descriptions, undervaluation, duty evasion and import safety. Owen, who is a senior trade adviser at Diaz Trade Law, also said during the webinar that he thinks stopping goods made with forced labor is going to continue to be a priority for the Biden administration. “I don’t see this going away,” he said.