The following lawsuits were filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
Turkish exporter Kaptan Demir Celik Endustrisi ve Ticaret filed a complaint at the Court of International Trade challenging the Commerce Department's decision on the date of sale of Kaptan's goods in the 2021-22 review of the antidumping duty order on steel concrete reinforcing bar from Turkey (Kaptan Demir Celik Endustrisi ve Ticaret v. United States, CIT # 24-00018).
The Court of International Trade on Feb. 26 issued an amended decision in a customs case on the tariff classification of five categories of chrome-plated plastic automobile parts after initially deciding the case Dec. 18. The new decision adds a discussion of axle covers, the fifth category of goods, finding them to fall under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8708 pursuant to General Rule of Interpretation 1.
The Court of International Trade on Feb. 26 again sent back the Commerce Department's decision that Indonesian data is not economically comparable to Vietnam as part of its surrogate country selection process, along with the agency's consideration of evidence pertaining to exporter NTSF Seafoods Joint Stock Company's production information.
The majority of World Trade Organization members issued a joint declaration Feb. 25 to mark the "finalization of the Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement," the WTO announced at the start of the 13th Ministerial Conference. The 123 ministers who issued the declaration represent three-quarters of the WTO membership.
Eight more World Trade Organization members accepted the fisheries subsidies agreement at the start of the 13th Ministerial Conference this week, the WTO said. Sixty-nine members have so far accepted the deal and 40 more are needed for ratification; the WTO said one more member is expected to accept the deal during MC13. The newest countries to adopt the agreement are Brunei, Chad, Malaysia, Norway, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Togo and Turkey. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said negotiations also are ongoing on a second fisheries deal, adding that passing both agreements would "really put WTO members at the forefront of action on sustainability of our oceans and would safeguard the livelihoods of the 260 million people who depend on these oceans."
Mohamed Daoud Ghacham, executive at California-based clothing wholesale company Ghacham Inc., was sentenced to 48 months in prison for undervaluing garment imports to avoid paying customs duties, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced Feb. 23. In addition, the Bell, California, resident will pay close to $6.4 million in restitution after pleading guilty in December 2022 to conspiracy to "pass false and fraudulent papers through a customhouse."
Indian exporter Kumar Industries withdrew its appeal of an antidumping duty case at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Feb. 23. The company said that it "has elected not to further pursue its appeal," noting that the U.S. consented to the withdrawal (Kumar Industries v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 24-1293).
The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 26 said it won't review whether whistleblower Brutus Trading should've been granted a hearing by a lower court in its case accusing U.K.-based Standard Chartered Bank of violating sanctions against Iran.
Importer Seneca Foods Corp. opposed the U.S. attempt to extend the deadline to file its remand results in a suit on the Commerce Department's decision to reject the company's requests for exclusions from Section 232 steel and aluminum duties. The government asked for another 31 days to file its remand decision after initially being given 90 days to conduct the remand and a 45-day extension (Seneca Foods Corp. v. United States, CIT # 22-00243).