The Court of International Trade on July 22 granted four importers' voluntarily dismissals of six cases challenging the 2021-22 reviews of the antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders on hardwood plywood products from China. In addition, the court dismissed importer Skyhigh Tech's case, per its request, challenging CBP's denial of its protest claiming its drones were improperly deemed excluded.
Exporter Camel Group defended its motion to unredact and re-designate part of the administrative record in its case against its placement on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, arguing on July 18 that the government won't suffer harm if Camel Group's lawyers can share the documents with the company. The exporter claimed that the government's interest in shielding the documents is "tarnished by continued inconsistencies in its designation" (Camel Group Co. v. United States, CIT # 25-00022).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on July 21 rejected a President Donald Trump-aligned amicus group's bid to file an additional amicus brief in the lead case on the legality of Trump's tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. In a per curiam order, all active judges on the court said the motion for leave to file an additional amicus brief "is denied as non-compliant with our scheduling order," which said all amicus briefs must be "filed on the same day as the principal brief of the party the amicus supports" (V.O.S. Selections v. Donald J. Trump, Fed. Cir. # 25-1812).
Conservative advocacy group the New Civil Liberties Alliance filed another lawsuit challenging the legality of the tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, arguing that IEEPA categorically doesn't allow for tariffs and that the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump aren't "necessary" to address the declared emergencies. The alliance filed its suit on July 21 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas on behalf of outdoor cooking product maker FIREDISC, the Game Manufacturers Association and wood product maker Ryan Wholesale (FIREDISC, Inc. v. Donald J. Trump, W.D. Tex. # 25-01134).
The Commerce Department adequately supported its de facto specificity finding regarding Indian state-run coal supplier Coal India's provision of coal to respondent Hindalco Inndustries for less than adequate remuneration, the Court of International Trade held in a July 22 decision. In the ruling, Judge Joseph Laroski also upheld Commerce's decision to use U.N. Comtrade data as a benchmark for calculating the size of the coal subsidy in the 2020-21 administrative review of the countervailing duty order on common alloy aluminum sheet from India.
Orange juice importers Johanna Foods and Johanna Beverage Company on July 22 asked the Court of International Trade to either temporarily, preliminarily or permanently enjoin the federal government from "imposing and enforcing" President Donald Trump's threatened 50% tariff on Brazil. Filing a combined application for a temporary restraining order and motions for a preliminary or permanent injunction, Johanna Foods and Johanna Beverage said the tariff isn't a proper exercise of either Section 301 or the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (Johanna Foods v. Executive Office of the President of the United States of America, CIT # 25-00155).
Alexander Fried, trade attorney at the Commerce Department, has left the agency, he announced on LinkedIn. Fried worked as an attorney adviser at Commerce since September 2022, advising the International Trade Administration on various issues, including digital service taxes, implementing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, UFLPA litigation, and trade remedies investigations and litigation.
The World Trade Organization's published its agenda for the Dispute Settlement Body's July 25 meeting. The meeting will feature U.S. status reports on the implementation of DSB recommendations on: antidumping measures on certain hot-rolled steel products from Japan; antidumping and countervailing measures on large residential washers from South Korea; certain methodologies and their application to antidumping proceedings involving China; and Section 110(5) of the U.S. Copyright Act. Status reports also are expected from Indonesia on measures related to the import of horticultural products, animals and animal products, and from the EU on measures affecting the approval and marketing of biotech products and on certain measures concerning palm oil and oil palm crop-based biofuels.
Arbitrators issued an award in the EU's dispute on China's enforcement of intellectual property rights under the World Trade Organization's Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA). The arbitrators said that the EU showed that China has an anti-suit injunction policy for its courts and that parts of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) aren't confined to ensuring a patent owner's exclusive rights in each member's domestic legal system.
A Lebanese national was sentenced on July 21 to 44 months in prison for attempting to unlawfully export goods from the U.S. to Iran without a license, attempting to smuggle goods from the U.S., submitting false export information and conspiring to commit money laundering, DOJ announced. Brian Assi was convicted in October 2024 of trying to export "U.S.-made heavy machinery" to Iran (see 2410250042).