The government hasn't given a "compelling justification" for why it used "secret evidence" to add Ninestar Corp. to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, Ninestar argued Jan. 15 (Ninestar Corp. v. United States, CIT # 23-00182).
The Court of International Trade upheld the Commerce Department's decision to accept antidumping duty respondent Oman Fasteners' supplemental questionnaire response after initially rejecting it for being submitted 16 minutes late. Judge M. Miller Baker, in a Jan. 5 opinion made public Jan. 16, nodded to his prior opinion in the case, in which he held that the rejection of the submission was "the very definition of abuse of discretion" (see 2307170036). The result was a zero percent dumping margin for the exporter.
Customs attorney and former CBP official Sandra Bell previously with DLA Piper, joined Rimon PC as a partner, she announced on LinkedIn. Bell advises clients on regulations related to customs tariffs and import issues.
The following lawsuit was recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
Steel nail importer Hilti dismissed its case at the Court of International Trade following the Supreme Court's decision not to review a case on President Donald Trump's expansion of Section 232 duties onto steel and aluminum "derivative" products. The high court's decision marked the sixth time the court has declined to address whether Trump legally expanded the duties beyond procedural deadlines (see 2401080037). Hilti stayed its case pending resolution of the case rejected by the Supreme Court (Hilti, Inc. v. United States, CIT # 21-00216).
The U.S. argued that a customs suit is ready for a decision on whether the Cozy -- a textile marketed as a "wearable blanket" -- is a pullover or a blanket. Filing a brief in support of its motion for summary judgment, the government said importer Cozy Comfort's issues are not with the facts but with the U.S. interpretation of the terms "pullover" and "similar articles" under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 6110 (Cozy Comfort Co. v. United States, CIT # 22-00173).
The U.S. and antidumping duty petitioner Wind Tower Trade Coalition defended the Commerce Department's decision to weight average, or "smooth," respondent Marmen's steel plate costs in the AD investigation on utility scale wind towers from Canada (Marmen v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1877).
The Commerce Department swapped its use of partial adverse facts available for partial neutral facts available for antidumping duty respondent Shanghai Tainai Bearing Co. after admitting that it isn't able to determine whether Tainai has "sufficient control over its suppliers to induce their cooperation" (Shanghai Tainai Bearing Co. v. United States, CIT # 22-00038).
Solar panel exporters, led by the Solar Energy Industries Association, urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to rehear their case on President Donald Trump's decision to revoke a Section 201 tariff exclusion on bifacial solar panels (Solar Energy Industries Association v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 22-1392).
World Trade Organization members will vote on the accession of Timor-Leste to the global trade body during the Feb. 26-29 Ministerial Conference, the WTO announced. Talks pertaining to Timor-Leste's accession wrapped up in just over seven years, which is a record for the accession of a least-developed country, the WTO said.