The petitioner and a pair of respondents traded briefs at the Court of International Trade regarding various elements of the Commerce Department's countervailing duty investigation on frozen warmwater shrimp from Ecuador (Industrial Pesquera Santa Priscila v. United States, CIT Consol. # 25-00025).

Importer Eteros Technologies and its CEO, Aaron McKellar, said the company will add more of its employees to its case against CBP for allegedly retaliating against the company and McKellar for winning a customs case at the Court of International Trade. The motion for an extension of time to file an amended complaint in the suit came after the federal district court in Washington state largely kept the company's case alive (see 2508080055) (Eteros Technologies USA v. United States, W.D. Wash. # 2:25-00181).

The Court of International Trade sustained parts and remanded parts of the 2021 review of the countervailing duty order on pasta from Italy in a confidential decision issued on Aug. 27. Judge Mark Barnett gave the parties until Sept. 3 to review the confidential information in the decision. The suit was brought by exporter Pastificio Gentile to contest the Commerce Department's use of adverse facts available against the company. Pastificio argued that the agency's use of excessive AFA rates violates the Eighth Amendment's bar against excessive fines (see 2502100048) (Pastificio Gentile S.r.l. v. United States, CIT # 24-00037).

The following lawsuit was filed recently at the Court of International Trade:

Exporter Canadian Solar International on Aug. 25 dropped its case on the International Trade Commission's final affirmative injury determination on solar cells from Thailand. Canadian Solar is continuing to litigate its cases against the Commerce Department's antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on solar cells from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam (see 2508250043). Counsel for Canadian Solar didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on why the company decided to drop the case on the injury proceeding (Canadian Solar International v. United States, CIT # 25-00168).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit last week denied exporter Salzgitter Flachstahl's bid to have the court rehear its case on the use of partial adverse facts available against the company in the antidumping duty investigation on cut-to-length carbon and alloy steel plate from Germany. Judges Alan Lourie, Timothy Dyk and Jimmie Reyna denied the petition for panel rehearing, leading the court to issue its mandate in the case on Aug. 26 (AG der Dillinger Huttenwerke v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 24-1219).

CBP improperly classified certain toy lips as candy under Harmonized Tariff Schedule Chapter 17 instead of "other toys" under Chapter 95, said importer Imaginings, doing business as Flix Candy, in a complaint last week at the Court of International Trade. Flix said that while the lips consist of two components, the plastic lips and a candy lollipop, the lips give the item its "essential character" and thus qualify the goods for Chapter 95 classification (Imaginings 3, d/b/a Flix Candy v. United States, CIT # 21-00403).

Two 3D-printing pen kit importers moved for judgment Aug. 25 saying their products are demonstrably toys, not hand tools, based on the Carborundum factors (Quantified Operations v. United States, CIT # 22-00178).

The following lawsuit was filed recently at the Court of International Trade:

The International Trade Commission erred in finding that the U.S. industry wasn't materially injured by solar cell imports from Thailand and Cambodia, the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee argued in an Aug. 22 complaint at the Court of International Trade (American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee v. United States, CIT # 25-00163).