The World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body on March 24 heard a request from China to establish a panel in its dispute against the EU's countervailing duties on new battery electric vehicles from China. The DSB "took note" of statements made by China and the EU and said it would "revert to this matter should a requesting member wish to do so."
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The Department of the Treasury last week dropped sanctions against cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash following a review of the "novel legal and policy issues raised by use of financial sanctions against financial and commercial activity occurring within evolving technology and legal environments." Treasury told a Texas court it removed Tornado Cash from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list, arguing that a case against the sanctions listing should now be briefed on whether the issue is moot (Van Loon, et al. v. Department of the Treasury, W.D. Tex. # 23-00312).
The following lawsuit was filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
The Court of International Trade remanded the Commerce Department's 2017 review of the countervailing duty order on multilayered wood flooring from China. In a March 24 confidential decision, Judge Timothy Reif gave the parties until March 31 to review the confidential information in the decision. Parties in the case sparred on Commerce's use of only one mandatory respondent in the review (see 2403110048). After a previous remand requested by Commerce to consider a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decision requiring the use of more than one respondent where multiple companies request a review, the agency said it could use only one respondent here, given the "case-specific circumstances" (see 2304030049) (Jiangsu Senmao Bamboo and Wood Industry Co. v. United States, CIT Consol. # 20-03885).
Wisconsin man Gary Barnes doesn't have constitutional or prudential standing to challenge the president's right to impose tariffs, the U.S. argued in a March 21 motion to dismiss at the Court of International Trade. The government claimed that Barnes failed to "allege a particularized and concrete injury to himself," and instead claimed that "unidentified American consumers more generally" will be harmed by the supposed constitutional violations the president commits when imposing tariffs (Gary Barnes v. United States, CIT # 25-00043).
Ethiopia hopes to join the World Trade Organization by the 14th Ministerial Conference, which will take place in March 2026, the WTO said. During a March 19 meeting of the WTO Working Party on Ethiopia's accession, the country said "its goods offer commits the country to bound rates -- maximum tariffs -- lower than those" found in the benchmark for least developed countries for the agricultural sector.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit on March 17 affirmed the dismissal of steel importer JSW Steel (USA)'s suit against three U.S. steel makers, which alleged that the companies illegally conspired to "boycott JSW by refusing to supply it with specific, domestically produced steel slab" (JSW Steel (USA) Inc. v. Nucor Corp., 5th Cir. # 22-20149).
The U.S. defended the Commerce Department's ability to require petitioners to file a notice of intent to participate in sunset reviews at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In a reply brief on March 21, the government said the "whole-text canon of statutory interpretation" doesn't support petitioner Archroma's challenge to this requirement, since the statute on which the company bases its claim "does not limit Commerce’s power to impose procedural requirements to be met before a domestic interested party may submit the information called for by the statute" (Archroma U.S. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 24-2159).
The Court of International Trade on March 21 sustained the Commerce Department's decision not to investigate the provision of off-peak electricity for less than adequate remuneration in South Korea after three remands before the trade court. Judge Mark Barnett said Commerce reasonably laid out the evidence petitioner Nucor Corp. should have provided to "justify a new subsidy investigation of this subset of the broader electricity pricing scheme."
Pakistan formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on March 20, bringing the number of countries that have accepted the deal to 94. The WTO needs 17 more countries to accept to get to two-thirds of the membership, the threshold for the agreement to take effect.