The Court of International Trade dismissed eight customs cases for lack of prosecution, noting that all cases were previously placed on the customs case management calendar but weren't removed "at the expiration of the applicable period of time of removal."
President Donald Trump's decision to eliminate the duty-free de minimis threshold for goods from China, issued as part of his 10% tariff hike on Chinese products, likely will face legal challenges due to the economic importance of the de minimis rule, customs attorney Lawrence Friedman told us. However, many questions remain on the precise scope of any resulting change, along with the legal theory underpinning it.
Paul Rosen, former assistant secretary for investment security at the Treasury Department, has joined Latham & Watkins as a partner in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and national security practice, the firm announced. At Treasury, Rosen oversaw CFIUS and its investment screening and enforcement activities.
International trade and customs attorney Jon Cowley has rejoined Baker McKenzie as a partner after working as principal counsel for trade and export at Apple, the firm announced. Cowley worked at Baker McKenzie during 2017-21 as a partner in the Hong Kong and Chicago offices. Before that, he was assistant general counsel for customs and international trade at Nike.
The following new lawsuit was filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
Exporter Nagase & Co. and the U.S. settled all claims in Nagase's suit challenging the first administrative review of the antidumping duty order on glycine from Japan. As a result, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit dismissed the exporter's appeal of the AD review (Nagase & Co. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 25-1008).
Importer Eteros Technologies asked the Court of International Trade for an expedited briefing schedule in its suit alleging that CBP retaliated against the company's executives after the company received a favorable ruling at the Court of International Trade (see 2501300018). Eteros said a speedy resolution of the case is needed "to resolve the legal uncertainties created by CBP’s defiance of this Court’s Article III powers and the reach of its national jurisdiction" and its "prior judgments and orders" (Eteros Technologies USA v. United States, CIT # 25-00036).
After President Donald Trump announced his sweeping tariff action on China under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as well as now-delayed IEEPA tariffs on Mexico and Canada, trade lawyers told us to expect the duties to be challenged in court. Matt Nicely, lead counsel in the ongoing case against tariffs imposed on China during Trump's first administration, said in an email that a legal challenge is coming, a sentiment echoed across the trade bar.
No lawsuits have been filed recently at the Court of International Trade.
Countervailing duty petitioner Nucor Corp. will appeal a Court of International Trade case on whether the Commerce Department can countervail three debt-to-equity infusions made to exporter KG Dongbu Steel Co. in the 2019 CVD review on corrosion-resistant steel products from South Korea. In the case, Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves said Commerce couldn't countervail the D/E swaps after previously refusing to do so in the prior CVD reviews, without finding a mistake of fact or analysis (see 2407030073). The judge then upheld the agency's decision not to countervail the restructurings on remand, finding that the evidence didn't support finding that the South Korean government pressured non-governmental institutions to take part in debt restructuring (see 2501170044) (KG Dongbu Steel Co. v. United States, CIT # 22-00047).