The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Sept. 5 issued its mandate in a trio of cases on whether the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 requires payouts of interest assessed after liquidation, known as delinquency interest, to affected domestic producers. In July, the court said the Act doesn't require the payment of delinquency interest but only requires payments of interest that's "earned" on antidumping and countervailing duties and "assessed under" the associated AD or CVD order (see 2407150031). The mandate awarded $44.16 in costs to the U.S. (Adee Honey Farms, et al. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 22-2105) (Hilex Poly Co. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 22-2106) (American Drew v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 22-2114).
Court of Federal Appeals Trade activity
Judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Sept. 4 heard oral argument in a tariff classification case on electrical conduit imported by Shamrock Building Materials. Judges Richard Taranto, Todd Hughes and Tiffany Cunningham asked whether the conduit had an insulating function and whether there is a de minimis amount of insulating material a conduit needs to include to qualify for classification under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8547 (Shamrock Building Materials v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1648).
On appeal, the U.S. supported Court of International Trade Judge Jane Restani’s decision that imported weekly/monthly planners were properly classified as “diaries” under heading 4820 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (see 2404100052). The decision subjected the importer to Section 301 tariffs (Blue Sky The Color of Imagination v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 24-1710).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit during oral argument on Sept. 3 strongly questioned the U.S. in a customs case on whether cookware imports from Meyer Corp. qualify for first sale treatment. Judges Sharon Prost, Todd Hughes and Tiffany Cunningham questioned the government's defense of the Court of International Trade's decision to deny Meyer first sale valuation seemingly based on an adverse inference drawn against the company for its failure to submit its parent company's financial information (Meyer Corp. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1570).
German paper exporter Koehler asked the Court of International Trade on Aug. 30 to certify for immediate appeal its decision allowing service on the company via its U.S. counsel. Koehler said the issue of service in the case is "appropriate for prompt review" by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit since the issue is a novel one for both CIT and CAFC and "entirely separate from the underlying merits of the case" (United States v. Koehler Oberkirch, CIT # 24-00014).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit didn't select the Section 301 litigation for its October schedule, setting up early November as the earliest time the case could be heard. Matt Nicely, counsel for the lead plaintiffs in the case involving over 4,000 companies, said in an email that he's "optimistic" oral argument in the action "will still happen before the end of the year." All arguing attorneys finished submitting their notices of conflicts with oral argument in April (HMTX Industries v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1891).
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Antidumping duty petitioner the Committee Overseeing Action for Lumber International Trade Investigations or Negotiations on Aug. 22 moved to file an amicus brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a case on the Commerce Department's use of the Cohen's d test to detect "masked" dumping. The committee filed the brief in response to arguments from amici led by the Canadian government, which invoked various academic literature on the use of the test (Mid Continent Steel & Wire v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 24-1556).
U.S. importer CME Acquisitions argued that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's recent decision in PrimeSource Building Products v. U.S. didn't overrule the appellate court's decision in Yangzhou Bestpak Gifts & Crafts Co. v. U.S. regarding how the Commerce Department sets the non-selected respondents' antidumping duty rate (CME Acquisitions v. United States, CIT # 24-00032).
After a four-times-remanded case from 2017 reached a conclusion in the Court of International Trade and went to appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. and a petitioner filed opening briefs Aug. 16 defending the trade court's final decision (AG Der Dillinger Huttenwerke v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 24-1498).