The U.S. is "clearly attempting to deny" importer G&H Diversified Manufacturing "access to facts that would support its claims" in opposing the company's motion for a legal ruling on the propriety of seeking testimony from both CBP and the Bureau of Industry and Security in a case seeking an exclusion from Section 232 tariffs, G&H argued Feb. 2 (G&H Diversified Manufacturing v. United States, CIT # 22-00130).

The U.S. dropped its appeal of the Court of International Trade's decision vacating the Commerce Department's duty "pause" on collection of antidumping duties and countervailing duties on solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit dismissed the appeal on Feb. 5 upon the government's request, though the issue continues to be litigated in a separate appeal led by the American Clean Power Association (Auxin Solar v. United States, Fed. Cir. #s 25-2120, 26-1072).

The Commerce Department properly decided not to use adverse facts available against antidumping duty respondent Saha Thai Steel Pipe Public Company on remand in a case on the 2018-19 administrative review of the AD order on circular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes from Thailand, the Court of International Trade held on Feb. 4. Judge Gary Katzmann rejected petitioner Wheatland Tube Company's argument that an intervening decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on the scope of the AD order impacts the court's previous decision rejecting the use of adverse facts available against Saha Thai.

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The proper standard of review for the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force's (FLETF's) listing and removal decisions regarding the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List is a "reasonable cause to believe that the statutory requirements of the UFLPA have been met," the U.S. argued. Filing a reply brief at the Court of International Trade, the government said exporter Camel Group is wrong to claim that the trade court should adopt a "preponderance of the evidence standard" in assessing FLETF's decision not to remove Camel Group from the UFLPA Entity List (Camel Group v. United States, CIT # 25-00022).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Feb. 2 affirmed the Court of International Trade's ruling that the International Trade Commission's policy of automatically redacting questionnaire responses violates the "common law right of access" to judicial proceedings. Judges Timothy Dyk, Richard Taranto and Raymond Chen held that the relevant statutes governing redactions of information before both CIT and the commission don't "abrogate" this common law right nor allow the ITC's practice.

The Commerce Department’s error in its calculation of a mandatory respondent’s energy costs actually helped the respondent, so the exporter can’t keep suing solely in hopes of further deflating its normal value, Court of International Trade Judge Gary Katzmann held in a Jan. 30 opinion.

Non-importer companies looking to reap some of the tariff refunds should the Supreme Court eliminate tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act have limited options for asserting a legal right to the refund payments, various lawyers told us.

Camel Energy urged the Court of International Trade on Jan. 29 to compel the government to produce documents it withheld during discovery and provide CBP officer John Bristol for another four-hour deposition in the company's case against the seizure of its battery entries under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) (Camel Energy v. United States, CIT # 25-00230).

The Commerce Department and exporter Jindal Poly Films agreed that the company will receive a 10.51% countervailing duty rate for its shipments of polyethylene terephthalate film, sheet and strip entered Jan. 1, 2021, through May 16, 2021, and an 11.67% countervailing duty rate for shipments of the same merchandise entered May 17, 2021, through Dec. 31, 2021 (Jindal Poly Films v. United States, CIT # 24-00053).