Parties originally excluded from an expedited countervailing duty review on Canadian softwood lumber opposed the government's bid to file a supplemental brief to a status report in a dispute on whether the excluded parties can obtain refunds of CVD cash deposits. The originally excluded parties said the U.S. failed to establish good cause for submitting a reply to the status report (Committee Overseeing Action for Lumber International Trade Investigations or Negotiations v. United States, CIT # 19-00122).
Importer Under the Weather defended its motion for leave to amend its complaint in a customs case, arguing that the government's grounds for opposition to the motion, untimeliness and prejudice, don't defeat it. The importer said any delay the Court of International Trade might find due to the motion isn't "undue" and that the amendment doesn't prejudice the U.S., since the amendment would add a claim based on the "same transactions and events as the original complaint" (Under the Weather v. United States, CIT # 21-00211).
International trade attorney E.J. Thomas has rejoined Morris Manning as a senior associate, the firm announced. Thomas previously worked at the firm from 2014 to 2019, joining first as a paralegal and then rising to international trade associate. Thomas later joined Covington & Burling as an associate in 2023 and now returns to Morris Manning's international trade practice.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its mandate in an antidumping duty case following importers Struxtur's and Evolutions Flooring's decision to voluntarily dismiss their appeals (see 2502110055). The case concerned the Commerce Department's use of a country-wide adverse facts available rate in calculating the AD rate for the separate rate respondents in the 2016-17 review of the AD order on multilayered wood flooring from China. A related appeal will continue to be litigated by importers led by Galleher Corp. on whether the use of AFA punishes the separate rate companies for respondent Sino-Maple's lack of cooperation and leads to an aberrational AD rate (see 2502050023) (Fuson Jinlong Wooden Group Co. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 25-1232).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit stayed the deadline for court-appointed amicus curiae Andrew Dhuey to submit his amicus brief in a case on the International Trade Commission's treatment of business proprietary information amid a spat over whether Dhuey can access all confidential filings in the appeal's docket. Dhuey submitted a motion seeking access to all confidential information in the case, which the government said it will oppose (In Re United States, Fed. Cir. # 24-1566).
The Commerce Department said on remand at the Court of International Trade that importer Hardware Resources' edge-glued wood boards are wood mouldings and millwork products subject to antidumping and countervailing duty orders on that product from China (Hardware Resources v. United States, CIT # 23-00150).
CBP is not entitled to Customs Passenger Processing Fees paid by individual passengers that cancel their tickets and never actually travel to the U.S., the Court of International Trade held on March 18. Siding with Southwest Airlines, Judge Gary Katzmann said that the statute, 19 U.S.C. 58c(a), doesn't allow CBP to collect the fees where the customer doesn't travel to the U.S. and no customs inspection services are performed.
Trade and patent attorney James Jeffries has rejoined Kutak Rock as an attorney in the intellectual property and corporate practice group, the firm announced. Jeffries worked as chief legal officer at Kuat Innovations from 2021 to 2025 after initially working for Kutak Rock as an attorney and partner from 2018 to 2021. At Kutak, Jeffries will work on trademark and patent matters, along with customs and international trade issues, including tariff exposure mitigation and vendor relationship structuring.
The entire international trade practice of Curtis Mallet-Prevost has joined Pillsbury Winthrop, Pillsbury announced on March 17. Led by partners Daniel Porter, Matthew McCullough and James Durling, the 14-member trade team will greatly expand Pillsbury's international trade practice, the firm said. Porter was the head of Curtis' trade practice, initially joining the firm in 2012.
A Chinese national was sentenced on March 14 to 30 months in prison for his role in a scheme to smuggle protected turtles from the U.S. to Hong Kong, DOJ announced. Sai Keung Tin pleaded guilty last year to four counts of illegally exporting the turtles.