Jerrob Duffy, former head of DOJ's litigation unit in the criminal fraud section, has joined Hogan Lovells as a partner in the investigations, white collar and fraud practice, the firm announced. Duffy joins from Squire Patton, and his practice includes sanctions violations, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act proceedings and the False Claims Act investigations, Hogan Lovells said.
The following lawsuit was filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
The U.S. opposed importer Inspired Ventures' bid for court-annexed mediation in the company's case against CBP's decision to put two of its rubber tire entries on hold under suspicions the goods had a high risk of tariff evasion. The government said the dispute between Inspired and the U.S. is "legal in nature" and thus "not amenable to mediation" (Inspired Ventures v. United States, CIT # 24-00062).
The Commerce Department decided on remand to replace existing Brazilian surrogate value information to value respondent Jiangsu Senmao Bamboo and Wood Industry Co. with data from Malaysia. Submitting its third remand results to the Court of International Trade on May 9, Commerce dropped the respondent's AD rate in the 2019-20 review of the AD order on multilayered wood flooring from 16.17% to 14.35% (Jiangsu Senmao Bamboo and Wood Industry Co. v. United States, CIT # 22-00190).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on May 12 affirmed the Court of International Trade's decision to uphold the Commerce Department's move to countervail respondent Hyundai Steel Co.'s collection of berthing fees from third parties on a port it built for the South Korean government. Judges Raymond Chen, Kimberly Moore and Tiffany Cunningham affirmed the trade court's ruling without an opinion under CAFC Rule 36 (Hyundai Steel Co. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 24-1100).
The Institute for Policy Integrity, an economic law think tank housed at the NYU School of Law, filed an amicus brief in the lead case at the Court of International Trade on tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to discuss the "major questions" doctrine. The institute said the plaintiffs filing the case, represented by conservative legal advocacy group Liberty Justice Center, "do not fully state the doctrine or properly explain why it is triggered here" (V.O.S. Selections v. Trump, CIT # 25-00066).
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida on May 8 permitted the U.S. to file an additional reply brief in support of its motion to transfer a case challenging certain tariff action taken under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to the Court of International Trade. Judge Kent Wetherell gave the government until May 19 to file its reply addressing the plaintiffs' "merits arguments" (Emily Ley Paper v. Donald J. Trump, N.D. Fla. # 3:25-00464).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sustained both the Commerce Department's 2018-19 and 2019-20 reviews of the antidumping duty order on activated carbon from China in a pair of decisions. Judges Richard Taranto, Alvin Schall and Raymond Chen upheld Commerce's surrogate value picks in both reviews.
Judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit pressed counsel for respondent Hyundai Steel Co. during May 9 oral argument on whether the company's collection of berthing fees from third parties on a port it built in South Korea can be considered countervailable subsidies. Judges Raymond Chen, Tiffany Cunningham and Kimberly Moore repeatedly asked whether Hyundai's case is precluded by the court's 1999 decision in AK Steel v. U.S. (Hyundai Steel Co. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 24-1100).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on May 9 upheld the Court of International Trade's classification of 14 mixtures of frozen fruits and vegetables under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 0811.90.80, the residual category for "other" frozen fruit.