The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in an Oct. 20 order granted the U.S. request for 55 more days to file its reply brief in the massive Section 301 litigation, despite an objection from the plaintiff-appellants, led by HMTX Industries. The government's reply brief is now due Dec. 21 following the extension, which was the second of its kind following a 60-day extension (HMTX Industries v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1891).
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Oct. 16-22:
A suit filed to contest the classification of photoresists and other chemical products should be tossed because the complaint was filed more than nine years after the denial of protests, DOJ said in an Oct. 20 motion to dismiss at the Court of International Trade (Tokyo Ohka Kogyo America v. U.S., CIT # 21-00371).
The Commerce Department wasn't required to issue exporter Jin Tiong Electrical Materials Manufacturer a questionnaire for purposes of giving the company a separate antidumping duty rate, the U.S. government told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in an Oct. 20 reply brief. The government said 19 U.S.C. § 1677f-1(c)(1) -- the statute relied on by Jin Tiong to claim that Commerce can't limit the number of respondents when the number is small -- doesn't speak to a process that Commerce must follow in carrying out its separate rate examinations (Repwire v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1933).
The Court of International Trade in an Oct. 20 opinion granted exporter Midwest-CBK's motion to ditch its case on whether sales from a Canadian warehouse to U.S. customers are sales for export to the U.S. or domestic sales. Following a prior CIT ruling finding that the company's imports are sales "for exportation to the United States" and that the goods were not deemed liquidated, the case shifted to how to value the goods.
U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven granted the FTC and Florida Department of Legal Affairs’ unopposed motion to stay proceedings (see 2310180022) in a fraud case against Global E-Trading, Gary Cardone and Monica Eaton, said a text-only order (docket 8:23-cv-00796) Thursday in U.S. District Court for Middle Florida in Tampa. The case is stayed and administratively closed for 45 days, after which the parties will file a joint status report advising the court whether they have reached a settlement or if the case needs to be reopened, said the order. The April complaint alleges Cardone and Eaton, owners of Global E-Trading, doing business as Chargebacks911, used “multiple unfair techniques” to prevent consumers from winning chargeback disputes over unwanted, fraudulent or incorrect credit card charges.
The U.S. asked for 17 more days to file its reply brief in the lead case at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on the Commerce Department's use of the Cohen's d test in its analysis of "masked" dumping in antidumping duty proceedings. The brief is currently due on Oct. 20 and the extension request, the second of its kind for the U.S. following a prior 45-day extension, would see the brief due Nov. 6 if granted. Exporter and appellant SeAH Steel Corp. told the government it objects to the motion (Stupp Corp. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1663).
The Supreme Court hasn't decided a case using its decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council since 2016, prompting the question not of whether it should be overruled but whether the high court "should let lower courts and citizens in on the news," commercial fishing companies led by Loper Bright Enterprises argued. Filing a reply brief in a key case on Chevron, which grants deference to federal agencies in interpreting ambiguous statutes, the fishing companies said the decision "has already proven itself unworkable, and its corrosive effects on our separation of powers have lingered long enough" (Loper Bright Enterprises v. Gina Raimondo, Sup. Ct. # 22-451).
MOVEit file transfer software owner Progress Software Corp. (PSC) inadequately safeguarded class members' private information it maintained and failed to provide timely and adequate notice of its May data breach to plaintiffs and class members, alleged a September class action (docket 6:23-cv-01532) PSC removed Wednesday to U.S. District Court for Oregon in Eugene. The negligence case was filed Sept. 13 in Oregon’s Marion County Circuit Court against PSC and Oregon’s Department of Transportation (ODOT).
The U.S. asked for an amended protective order in a case brought by Chinese printer cartridge maker Ninestar Corp. to challenge its placement on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List. The request comes on the heels of Ninestar's request for the Court of International Trade to compel production of the confidential information used in the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force's review of Ninestar (see 2310180025) (Ninestar Corp. v. United States, CIT # 23-00182).