Home Depot on Jan. 10 dropped its lawsuit in the Court of International Trade challenging the president's authority to expand Section 232 national security tariffs beyond procedural deadlines. The U.S. Supreme Court this week denied a petition for writ of certiorari from steel nail maker Oman Fasteners, marking the sixth time the court has declined to address whether President Donald Trump legally expanded Section 232 duties on steel and aluminum derivatives (see 2401080037). Counsel for Home Depot confirmed in an email that its case was abandoned following the Supreme Court's most recent rejection (Home Depot USA v. U.S., CIT # 22-00014).
The Commerce Department's use of thresholds proposed by Dr. Jacob Cohen -- the creator of the Cohen's d test -- for evaluating the d statistic in the agency's analysis to detect "masked" dumping isn't line with "normal statistical practice," exporter SeAH Steel Corp. argued in a Jan. 8 reply brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Stupp Corp. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1663).
The "low standard of proof" that the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force used in adding exporter Ninestar Corp. to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List violates the requirements of UFLPA as written in the statute, Ninestar argued in a Jan. 10 supplemental brief at the Court of International Trade (Ninestar Corp. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00182).
Roop Bhatti, former International Trade Commission chief of staff, has joined trade law firm Cassidy Levy as a partner, the firm announced in an email. She worked at the ITC for nearly five years, also serving as counsel to Commissioner Jason Kearns and an attorney adviser.
Navy Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay a $5,500 fine for sending U.S. military information to a Chinese intelligence officer, DOJ announced. Zhao pleaded guilty in October to one count of conspiring with an intelligence officer and one count of receiving a bribe, DOJ said.
The following lawsuit was filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Jan. 10 issued its mandate in a case on the Commerce Department's use of a particular market situation adjustment to the sales-below-cost test in antidumping duty cases. In the opinion, the appellate court sustained Commerce's remand results dropping the adjustment for two respondents to the 2018 AD review of circular welded carbon steel pipes from Thailand (see 2312040025). The court said petitioner Wheatland Tube Co. failed to distinguish the case from the holding in Hyundai Steel v. U.S., in which the court first ruled against the PMS adjustment (Saha Thai Steel Pipe Public Co. v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 22-1175).
Exporters Carbon Activated Tianjin Co. and Carbon Activated Corp. on Jan. 9 dismissed their appeal of the Commerce Department's final results of the 2021-22 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on activated carbon from China. Carbon Activated is pursuing other cases at the trade court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit regarding prior reviews of the AD order (see 2311080037). No reason was given for the voluntary dismissal (Carbon Activated Tianjin Co. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00266).
The U.S. defended its right not to turn over parts of the administrative record in a case on the decision to add exporter Ninestar Corp. to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, saying that the record is protected by the "informer's privilege" or is "law-enforcement sensitive" (Ninestar Corp. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00182).
Judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit questioned the claim that the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement bars a class-action lawsuit against U.S. companies and their officials. The suit, brought by Peruvian citizens, alleges that a mineral smelting and refining complex in Peru caused environmental damage, harming the individuals (Sr. Kate Reid v. The Doe Run Resources Corp., 8th Cir. # 23-1625).