The International Trade Commission's decision to find that freight rail couplers from China and Mexico injured the domestic industry was not backed by substantial evidence, given its finding in a separate, previously conducted investigation that the couplers just from China did not injure the U.S. industry, importer Wabtec Corp. argued in a Sept. 13 complaint at the Court of International Trade (Wabtec Corp. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00157).
The Court of International Trade lacks jurisdiction to hear importer Greentech Energy Solution's claims challenging CBP's decision to assess antidumping and countervailing duties on its 2019 imports of solar modules from Vietnam, the U.S. said in a Sept. 7 motion to dismiss. The "protest procedure" at CIT and "judicial review" under Section 1581(a) are not "manifestly inadequate" to review Greentech's claims, barring review under Section 1581(i), the government said (Greentech Energy Solutions v. United States, CIT # 23-00118).
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of Aug. 28 - Sept. 3 and Sept. 4-10:
Federal Maritime Commissioner Carl Bentzel expects the government to eventually scrutinize certain rail storage fees imposed by ocean carriers on through bills of lading, he said during an industry conference this week. He also said the FMC is “very close” to finalizing its rule on detention and demurrage billing requirements and wants to better address issues involving service contract disputes between carriers and shippers.
Charter Communications seeks a preliminary injunction enjoining Bridger Mahlum, its former director-state government affairs, from working for BroadbandMT or any other direct competitor and to keep him from divulging Charter’s trade secrets (see 2308210001), said its emergency motion Friday (docket 3:23-cv-01106) in U.S. District Court for Connecticut in New Haven. The court’s Aug. 30 order granted Charter’s request for a temporary restraining order against Mahlum, giving him until Sept. 29 to show cause why it shouldn’t issue a preliminary injunction in Charter’s favor. But Mahlum can’t make such a showing, “as he has blatantly violated the valid, enforceable restrictive covenants” in his Charter employment agreements and threatens to misappropriate Charter’s trade secrets for BroadbandMT’s benefit, if he hasn’t already done so, said Charter’s emergency motion. “Emergency preliminary injunctive relief is necessary in this case,” it said. Mahlum’s employment for BroadbandMT “is precisely the type of unfair competition” that the noncompete covenants in his agreements “are designed to guard against,” it said. Mahlum’s unlawful activities “immediately and irreparably harm Charter and may be remedied only by emergency and preliminary injunctive relief pending the outcome of a separate arbitration Charter filed against Mahlum,” it said. The parties’ arbitration agreement “contains a specific carve out for actions seeking temporary and preliminary injunctive relief,” it said.
Canadian exporter Midwest-CBK asked the Court of International Trade to enter judgment against it in a case involving whether sales from a Canadian warehouse to U.S. customers are "sales for export to the U.S." or "domestic sales." Midwest said that over the course of the now six-year-old case, it ceased actively doing business and restructured itself, which has made complying with court orders to produce evidence impossible (Midwest-CBK, LLC v. U.S., CIT Consol. # 17-00154).
Chinese printer cartridge maker Ninestar Corp., along with eight of its Zhuhai-based subsidiaries, opposed the U.S.'s motion to extend the time to file a response to their request for a preliminary injunction in a case against their addition to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List. Ninestar said the government, in asking for a total of 62 more days, failed to show "good cause" for needing a delay to address "even one element of the preliminary injunction test" (Ninestar Corporation v. United States, CIT # 23-00182).
Federal Maritime Commissioner Carl Bentzel expects the government to eventually scrutinize certain rail storage fees imposed by ocean carriers on through bills of lading, he said during an industry conference this week. He also said the FMC is “very close” to finalizing its rule on detention and demurrage billing requirements and wants to better address issues involving service contract disputes between carriers and shippers.
Suspicious activity reports recently filed with the U.S. government show nearly $1 billion worth of transactions over the last year may have had ties to Russia-related export control evasion, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said in a new report analyzing SAR trend data. The report -- issued as part of a joint effort between FinCen and the Bureau of Industry and Security to collect more leads for export enforcement agents -- highlights several evasion trends being reported by banks and other financial institutions, including what types of goods are most commonly being sought by sanctions evaders and which foreign countries those transactions most frequently involve.
The Court of International Trade on Sept. 11 ordered parties to answer whether there are any outstanding questions of fact in a customs spat on GoPro Hero camera housings. Judge Timothy Reif wants the issue resolved to see if the case is "ripe for summary judgment."