Judge Mark Barnett, chief judge of the Court of International Trade, suggested that videoconferencing, which was rolled out as a salve for judicial proceedings in the face of COVID-19, is here to stay, especially for certain smaller proceedings in various trade cases. Speaking at the Georgetown International Trade Update on May 24, Barnett said that while in-person oral arguments are more in favor with the judges at the trade court, the prospect of continued videoconferencing to handle some smaller issues remains a real possibility for the court as it shifts out of the pandemic restrictions.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a May 24 opinion that the Commerce Department improperly hit respondent Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. with adverse facts available over its reporting of service-related revenue. Judges Pauline Newman, Alan Lourie and Timothy Dyk said Hyundai has the right to supplement the record and Commerce cannot claim Hyundai didn't act to the best of its ability in the review since it fully responded to Commerce's requests for further information.

The Commerce Department must "find a practical solution" to verify information from countervailing duty respondents' U.S. customers that shows that they did not use China's Export Buyer's Credit Program, the Court of International Trade said in an opinion released May 20. Adding to a long line of CIT opinions striking down Commerce's use of adverse facts available over the EBCP, Judge Richard Eaton said that the agency can either find a solution to verify the non-use of the program on the record or recalculate the CVD rates for the two mandatory respondents, Dalian Meisen and Ancientree, without using the subsidy rate for the EBCP.

The Court of International Trade in a May 23 opinion sent back CBP's decision finding that MSeafood Corp. did not evade antidumping duties by transshipping Indian frozen warmwater shrimp through Vietnam. Judge Claire Kelly said that CBP only reviewed part of the record in making the decision and failed to adequately follow its own regulations requiring public summaries of confidential information.

The Committee Overseeing Action for Lumber International Trade Investigations or Negotiations will not be allowed to intervene in GreenFirst Forest Products' case at the Court of International Trade contesting the Commerce Department's decision not to start a changed circumstances review. Per a May 20 opinion at CIT, Judge Claire Kelly said the coalition failed to show that it has a "direct, immediate, or legally protectable interest in this case" or that the U.S. will not adequately represent its interests.

The Court of International Trade ruled in a May 20 opinion that sales from a Canadian warehouse to U.S. customers are "sales for export to the U.S." rather than "domestic sales," in a May 20 slip opinion by Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves. The opinion granted a Nov. 19 motion for summary judgment by DOJ (see 2111220057) that argued plaintiff Midwest-CBK's sales were exports to the U.S. at the time of sale (Midwest-CBK, LLC v. United States, CIT Consol. #17-00154).

The Court of International Trade in a May 19 opinion upheld the Commerce Department's remand results in an antidumping duty case, finding that exporter Pirelli Tyre wasn't controlled by the Chinese state for the first 10 months of the AD review. Ten months into the review, Chinese company Chem China bought Pirelli, but Commerce originally held that Pirelli was owned by the Chinese government for the entire review. On remand, the agency said Chem China didn't own Pirelli for the first 10 months, giving the exporter a 1.45% dumping rate for this period.

The Commerce Department sufficiently backed its position that electricity subsidies in China were regionally specific, the Court of International Trade said in a May 19 opinion in a countervailing duty review challenge. Addressing the four other previously remanded elements of the review, Judge Jane Restani ultimately upheld Commerce's remand.

The Court of International Trade in a May 10 opinion made public May 17 sustained parts and sent back parts of the Commerce Department's remand results in the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on large power transformers from South Korea. In the opinion, Judge Mark Barnett remanded Commerce's use of adverse facts available over plaintiff Hyundai Electric & Energy Systems' (HEES's) reporting of certain parts as not being in the scope of the order. The judge also upheld the use of AFA relating to Hyundai's reporting of service-related revenue and the completeness of its U.S. sales database.

The Court of International Trade dismissed two cases brought by steel importer Voestalpine USA and steel purchaser Bilstein Cold Rolled Steel seeking to retroactively apply a Section 232 steel and aluminum tariff exclusion that was originally issued with a clerical error. Judge Mark Barnett said that the plaintiffs did not seek any relief that the court could grant since the entries eligible for the exclusion had already been liquidated, and the court does not have the power to order their reliquidation.