The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit dismissed an appeal from the Government of Argentina and Argentine biodiesel company LDC Argentina over the Commerce Department's changed circumstances review of countervailing duties on biodiesel from Argentina. The two had appealed a Court of International Trade decision affirming Commerce's determination that the situation had not changed regarding countervailable subsides from Argentina's biodiesel industry. The trade court also upheld Commerce's decision to originally find changed circumstances but later switch back to a finding of no changed circumstances (see 2109210046) (Government of Argentina v. United States, Fed. Cir. #22-1190).
Two importers asked the Court of International Trade to sustain remand results from the Commerce Department that found certain door thresholds qualify for the "finished merchandise" exclusion from antidumping and countervailing duty orders on aluminum extrusions from China. In a pair of briefs filed in two separate cases, Columbia Aluminum Products and Worldwide Door Components said Commerce correctly reversed course after CIT's remand (Worldwide Door Components v. United States, CIT #19-00012) (Columbia Aluminum Products v. United States, CIT # 19-00013).
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Jan. 10 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):
The U.S. is seeking the forfeiture of 35 Cambodian and Southeast Asian antiquities from a private American collection via the filing of a civil complaint in district court seeking to return the artifacts to their country of origin, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said. The antiquities were sold by dealer Douglas Latchford to the current unnamed owner with false statements and fake provenance documents to hide the fact that the items were obtained via looting and imported through falsified customs documents, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The collector voluntarily handed over the antiquities to the authorities.
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
CBP failed to require that a company accused of evasion of antidumping and countervailing duties provide adequate public summaries of its confidential information, and the agency also failed to properly review the administrative record, the Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Enforcement Committee (AHSTEC) told the Court of International Trade in a Jan. 10 reply to briefs submitted by the Justice Department and defendant-intervenors MSeafood Corp. and Minh Phu Seafood (Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Enforcement Committee v. United States, CIT #21-00129).
The U.S.Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit shouldn't strike down President Donald Trump's extension of Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs onto "derivative" products made beyond procedural deadlines since the tariffs had a positive impact on the U.S. industry, The American Steel Nail Coalition said in Jan. 10 proposed amicus brief. The coalition asked the court for leave to file the amicus brief in a bid to broaden the defense of the president's tariff action. The proposed amicus further said that this issue has already been decided following the Federal Circuit's decision in the key case Transpacific Steel v. U.S. (PrimeSource Building Products v. United States, Fed. Cir. #21-2066).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit should uphold the Commerce Department's finding that Shelter Forest International Acquisition's hardwood plywood exports didn't circumvent the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on hardwood plywood from China, Shelter Forest and others said in a response brief. Shelter Forest argued that the appellate court should uphold the Court of International Trade's ruling that Shelter Forest's plywood wasn't later-developed merchandise and the company wasn't guilty of evasion (Shelter Forest International Acquisition Inc. v. U.S., Fed. Cir. #21-2281).
CBP wants the Court of International Trade to grant its voluntary remand request to reconsider its final determination in an antidumping and countervailing duty evasion case. The U.S. said the remand would allow CBP to consider the issues raised by plaintiff Fedmet Resources, including scope-related and due process arguments. Fedmet signed off on the remand request while the defendant-intervenor Magnesia Carbon Bricks Fair Trade Committee didn't directly oppose it.
The Labor Department unlawfully relied on unverified statements from AT&T officials when denying a unionized group of former AT&T call workers trade adjustment assistance, the Court of International Trade said in a Jan. 5 opinion. Sending the decision back to Labor a second time, Judge Miller Baker said the department can't claim to have verified email communications with AT&T's in-house counsel based only on AT&T knowing the most about its business operations.