Congress may want to assert itself on trade in softwood lumber, whether by codifying higher tariffs to protect the U.S. lumber industry, or by pushing for a new softwood lumber agreement to end trade remedies. A Dec. 30 Congressional Research Service report also said that Congress could commission a report "on the benefits and costs of softwood lumber duties for the U.S. economy."
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Dec. 22-28:
CBP has released its Dec. 24 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 59, No. 48). While it contains no ruling notices, it includes two U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decisions and five Court of International Trade slip opinions.
CBP unlawfully initiated an antidumping duty and countervailing duty evasion investigation more than 15 days after receiving an allegation of duty evasion and imposed interim measures in violation of importer Sinoboom North America's due process rights, Sinoboom argued in a Dec. 22 complaint at the Court of International Trade (Sinoboom North America v. United States, CIT # 25-00876).
The Commerce Department is increasing the “all others” antidumping duty rate applicable to thermal paper from Germany from exporters that have never received their own AD rate, it said in a notice released Dec. 23. Implementing a Court of International Trade decision that mandated changes to Commerce’s calculations from the original 2021 AD investigation, Commerce said the “all others” rate will rise to 6.27%, from 2.9%. The new rate is applicable Dec. 1.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Dec. 15-21:
Importer Blue Sky the Color of Imagination filed a complaint on Dec. 22 in a customs case at the Court of International Trade on the classification of its planning calendars. The complaint comes on the heels of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejecting the trade court's previous ruling in a separate case brought by Blue Sky that classified the importer's goods as diaries under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 4820.10.2010 (see 2512040019) (Blue Sky the Color of Imagination v. United States, CIT # 22-00008).
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., introduced the Trade Cheating Restitution Act of 2025, which would allow interest on antidumping and countervailing duties collected since 2000 on commodities like honey, crawfish, garlic and mushrooms to be distributed to domestic producers of those products.
Importer Wanxiang America agreed to pay over $53 million to settle claims that the company unlawfully avoided antidumping duties on its car part entries, DOJ announced. The settlement was filed at the Court of International Trade and resolves the government's customs penalty case against Wanxiang in which it was seeking $97 million from the company (see 2512180043).
CBP has released its Dec. 17 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 59, No. 47), which includes the following ruling action: