The U.S. Lumber Coalition in a Jan. 28 letter urged the U.S. trade representative to scrap the USMCA binational panel review system during the USMCA review process. The coalition said binational panel review "gives powers to international tribunals that the Constitution reserves for U.S. courts" and establishes tribunals immune from "constitutional oversight or democratic accountability."

Should the Supreme Court strike down tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, widely discussed as a potential tool to plug the gap left by the removal of the reciprocal tariffs, may not be available, Bryan Riley, director of the National Taxpayers Union's Free Trade Initiative, wrote in a blog post.

The Federal Maritime Commission is removing a portion of its final rule on demurrage and detention billing requirements (see 2402230049) after a federal court earlier this year said the language arbitrarily and capriciously exempted motor carriers from being assessed those demurrage and detention fees (see 2509230039 and 2509240068).

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court last month found that Mexico discriminated against non-Mexican steel conduit in government procurement through, among other things, state-owned bank loans, energy subsidies, "unfair transshipment schemes" and "permitting misclassification of steel conduit" (Wheatland Tube v. Foreign Country of Mexico, Pa. Cmwlth. # 496).

Mouser Electronics, one of several firms sued this week in a Texas state court for allegedly not doing enough to ensure the semiconductor parts they sell don't end up in Russian or Iranian hands (see 2512110054), said they will respond to the matter in court. “We deeply respect the legal process and will respond to this matter in court, versus the media,” said Kevin Hess, senior vice president of marketing at Mouser Electronics.

DOJ's Trade Fraud Task Force plans to model its tariff enforcement efforts after the DOJ Health Care Fraud Unit's "data-drive playbook to develop leads," DOJ Criminal Division Senior Counsel Cody Herche said at the American Conference Institute's annual anti-corruption conference, according to attorneys at Morgan Lewis. The attorneys said Herche's comment indicates "potential criminal violations of US tariff laws," including the False Claims Act and the statute against smuggling goods into the U.S.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Nov. 25 opened a solicitation for applications to join the roster of individuals that may serve on binational dispute panels set up under USMCA.

President Donald Trump told reporters on Oct. 15 that he would like to attend the Nov. 5 oral argument at the Supreme Court regarding whether he can use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs. After declaring that the tariffs he has imposed are essential for economic and national security matters, Trump said: "I'm going to go to the Supreme Court to watch it. I've not done that, and I've had some pretty big cases."

The Federal Maritime Commission is reviewing a federal court decision issued this week that said the FMC’s 2024 demurrage and detention billing rule (see 2402230049) arbitrarily and capriciously exempted motor carriers from being assessed those fees (see 2509230039). "The Commission is reviewing the court's opinion and will take appropriate action going forward," a commission spokesperson said in a Sept. 24 email.

Importers who have paid tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act should look to affirmatively safeguard their right to receive refunds should the Supreme Court vacate in some form President Donald Trump's tariffs imposed under the statute, various law firms said. The attorneys issued the alerts in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to hear two cases on the legality of IEEPA tariffs on an expedited basis (see 2509090058).