Karalyn Mildorf, a former partner at White & Case, has joined Clifford Chance to work on international trade and national security issues, the firm announced. Mildorf's practice centers on Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. matters, compliance with the U.S. outbound investment security program, and more, the firm said.
Ashley Akers, former senior trial counsel at DOJ, has joined Holland & Knight as senior counsel, Akers announced on LinkedIn. Akers served at DOJ for over seven years, joining initially as a trial attorney then moving to senior trial counsel in 2024. At DOJ, Akers worked on a number of trade remedies cases at the Court of International Trade and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Ethiopia reaffirmed its commitment to "accelerating its accession process" to the World Trade Organization with aims to conclude talks by the 14th Ministerial Conference in March 2026, the WTO announced. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and the country's steering committee on WTO access at the African Union Summit on Feb. 16 to discuss ramping up accession negotiations, the WTO said.
The following lawsuit was recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The Court of International Trade on Feb. 20 consolidated nine cases challenging the Commerce Department's scope determination in the antidumping duty investigation on aluminum extrusions from China and nine cases challenging the scope determination in the countervailing duty investigation on the same products. The court also stayed the consolidated cases pending the trade court's first decision in a separate case on the International Trade Commission's injury determination on the products (Dorman Products v. United States, CIT #s 24-00236, -00237).
Dominican exporter Kingtom Aluminio asked the Court of International Trade to expedite its challenge to CBP's finding that the company makes aluminum extrusions using forced labor, arguing that there's a "very real possibility" the company will have to "cease operations and file for bankruptcy as a result of" the forced labor finding (Kingtom Aluminio v. United States, CIT # 24-00264).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Feb. 20 allowed patent attorney Andrew Dhuey to appear as amicus curiae to defend Court of International Trade Judge Stephen Vaden's decision rejecting an unopposed motion to redact certain confidential information from the merits decision on an antidumping duty and countervailing duty injury determination. CAFC Judge Leonard Stark took up Dhuey on his offer, appointing him "in support" of the trade court's decision (In Re United States, Fed. Cir. # 24-1566).
President Donald Trump's directive in his proclamation expanding Section 232 steel tariffs to assess penalties for the misclassification of entries resulting in non-payment of the duties without regard for "evidence of mitigating factors" may run afoul of existing customs laws, trade lawyers said. Even if the directive stays within the bounds of the current statutory scheme, expect more prior disclosures and proactive steps to ensure the proper customs treatment of steel entries, the lawyers added.
Taiwan formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies Feb. 18, bringing the number of countries that have accepted the deal to 90. The WTO needs 21 more countries to accept to get to two-thirds of the membership, the threshold for the agreement to take effect.
The U.S.District Court for the Eastern District of Texas stayed its preliminary injunction against the enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act's (CTA's) beneficial ownership information reporting requirements after the Supreme Court granted a stay of a similar injunction in another case against the requirements. Judge Jeremy Kernodle lifted the preliminary injunction, citing the high court's decision (Smith v. U.S. Department of Treasury, E.D. Tex. # 6:24-336).