A voluntary remand is not needed in a case concerning the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's ban on imports of fish and fishery products from New Zealand caught using techniques that allegedly have caused the near extinction of the Maui dolphin, plaintiffs Sea Shepherd New Zealand and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society argued in a Nov. 23 reply brief at the Court of International Trade. NOAA's call for a voluntary remand "is a red herring" and would let the agency "avoid the repercussions of its decision to not rule on the" New Zealand government's 2021 comparability findings application by the end of the year -- a move that delays the consideration of new information over the Maui dolphin, the U.S. said (Sea Shepherd New Zealand, et al. v. United States, CIT #20-00112).
An amended complaint in a conflict-of-interest case does not cure the fundamental deficiencies of the suit, the U.S. argued in a second motion to dismiss at the Court of International Trade. While the amended complaint included specific examples of alleged ethical violations committed by plaintiff Amsted Rail Co.'s former counsel and a declaration from an ethics expert, the case still suffers from a lack of jurisdiction, the government said (Amsted Rail Co. v. United States, CIT # 22-00316).
The Court of International Trade in a Nov. 28 opinion blocked imports of snapper, tarakihi, spotted dogfish, trevally, warehou, hoki, barracouta, mullet and gurnard from New Zealand's West Coast North Island multispecies set-net and trawl fisheries. Judge Gary Katzmann ruled that the plaintiffs in a case seeking a ban on imports of fish and fishery products from New Zealand and caught using techniques that have allegedly caused the near extinction of the Maui dolphin are likely to succeed on two of their claims.
The Court of International Trade erred by upholding the Commerce Department's exclusion of dual-stenciled pipe from the antidumping duty order on circular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes from Thailand, defendant-appellant Wheatland Tube Co. told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in its opening brief. Commerce's original scope ruling including dual-stenciled pipe was backed by evidence since the pipe met the physical characteristics laid out in the scope of the order "and was made to an industrial specification for standard pipe" (Saha Thai Steel Pipe Public Co. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 22-2181).
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
Surety company Aegis Security Insurance Co. must pay more than $100,000 in unpaid duties on an entry of honey from China imported in 2002, the U.S. argued in a Nov. 22 complaint at the Court of International Trade. The suit, filed under Section 1582, echoes another case brought against Aegis that looks to collect duties on entries of garlic that liquidated in 2006 (see 2211010037). The surety in that case has argued that the statute of limitations has passed for the action, claiming that the U.S. has a six-year window to file such action that runs from the date of liquidation. The U.S. says that this window starts from when CBP makes a demand for payment (United States v. Aegis Security Insurance Co., CIT # 22-00327).
The Commerce Department properly dropped its particular market situation adjustment to two antidumping duty respondents' costs of production in the sales-below-cost test, the Court of International Trade ruled in a Nov. 23 opinion. Judge Gary Katzmann said that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit "in an analogous case, Hyundai Steel Co., made it illegal for Commerce to make a PMS adjustment to the sales-below-cost test when finding normal value based on home market sales, supporting the agency's removal of the adjustment in the present case.
The Commerce Department did not err in its scope ruling that found that two-ply hardwood plywood fell under the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on hardwood plywood from China, the government said in a Nov. 18 reply brief at the Court of International Trade. The brief asked the court to sustain the underlying scope ruling (Vietnam Finewood Company Ltd. v. U.S., CIT # 22-00049).
Fish importer Southern Cross Seafoods on Nov. 21 moved for an expedited briefing schedule and consideration of its case at the Court of International Trade concerning its application for preapproval to import Chilean sea bass. Southern Cross said that failure to expedite the case would deprive the importer of all its U.S. sales in the coming year as it is unable to import and sell Chilean sea bass until the embargo on its imports is lifted. Further, the fish imports are perishable goods, so Southern Cross said it needs a decision by March 2023 to have any meaningful relief (Southern Cross Seafoods v. United States, CIT #22-00299).
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