The Court of International Trade on Sept. 26 ordered the Commerce Department to add exporter The Ancientree Cabinet Co.'s ministerial error allegation to the record of a suit on the 2021-22 review of the antidumping duty order on wooden cabinets and vanities from China. Judge Mark Barnett gave Commerce until Oct. 7 to add the allegation to the record (The Ancientree Cabinet Co. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00262).
Court of International Trade
The United States Court of International Trade is a federal court which has national jurisdiction over civil actions regarding the customs and international trade laws of the United States. The Court was established under Article III of the Constitution by the Customs Courts Act of 1980. The Court consists of nine judges appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate and is located in New York City. The Court has jurisdiction throughout the United States and has exclusive jurisdictional authority to decide civil action pertaining to international trade against the United States or entities representing the United States.
Texas-based syringe importer Retractable Technologies took to the Court of International Trade to contest the 100% increase of Section 301 tariffs recently imposed on needles and syringes from China. The complaint is seeking a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against the duties, claiming that the tariffs could send the company out of business (Retractable Technologies v. United States, CIT # 24-00185).
Plaintiffs in a case regarding the antidumping and countervailing duty reviews on wood mouldings and millwork from China filed two briefs Sept. 25 with the Court of International Trade, again arguing that, one, one respondent’s trading company should have been entitled to the same separate rate as the respondent itself, and, two, that the Commerce Department illegitimately chose to end its review of another respondent early and instead use adverse facts available (China Cornici Co. Ltd. v. U.S., CIT #s 23-000216, -00217).
Exporter The Ancientree Cabinet Co. said both the government's and petitioner American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance's claims that the Commerce Department didn't need to make an export subsidy adjustment for Ancientree since the company failed to exhaust its administrative remedies "fail to properly contemplate" this requirement (The Ancientree Cabinet Co. v. United States, CIT # 23-00262).
The U.S. asked for a voluntary remand at the Court of International Trade in a suit on the 2021-22 review of the antidumping duty order on mechanical tubing of carbon and alloy steel from Italy to reconsider the "single-entity treatment" of exporters Dalmine and Silcotub (ArcelorMittal Tubular Products v. United States, CIT # 24-00039).
German paper exporter Koehler further defended its bid for an interlocutory appeal of the Court of International Trade's decision allowing the government to effect service on the company through its U.S. counsel (United States v. Koehler Oberkirch GmbH, CIT # 24-00014).
Importer Omni Distributors on Sept. 24 voluntarily dismissed its customs case at the Court of International Trade on the classification of its hand sanitizer imports. Omni Distributors said the goods, classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 3824.99.9297, should qualify for Section 301 exclusions under secondary subheading 9903.88.45. Counsel for the importer declined to comment (Omni Distributors v. United States, CIT # 22-00250).
The U.S. on Sept. 24 moved to dismiss mattress importer Pay Less Here's suit on the International Trade Commission's critical circumstances finding on mattresses from Burma, saying the company failed to file an entry of appearance in the proceeding. The government said that, as a result of this failure, the company isn't an "interested party" that can challenge the determination at the Court of International Trade (Pay Less Here v. U.S., CIT # 24-00152).
Responding to exporters and importers of Thai solar panels, the U.S. argued Sept. 25 that it hadn’t unlawfully elevated one relevant factor, research and development, in a circumvention inquiry over the other four. It agreed the Commerce Department had prioritized R&D -- but that was reasonable in context and allowable by statute, it said (Canadian Solar International Limited v. U.S., CIT # 23-00222).
The U.S. and importer Cozy Comfort traded briefs at the Court of International Trade seeking to discredit the other side's evidence ahead of a bench trial on the classification of the importer's wearable blanket, called The Comfy (Cozy Comfort Company v. United States, CIT # 22-00173).