The following lawsuit was filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 11 invited the Court of International Trade to respond to the government's petition for writ of mandamus regarding the trade court's recent decision finding the commission's practice of automatically redacting questionnaire responses to be unlawful (see 2503270057). In a per curiam order, CAFC invited Judge Stephen Vaden, the author of the opinion, to respond no later than April 22. The court said any reply in support of the petition is due "no later than seven days after the last-filed response." The U.S. filed its mandamus bid last week, asking the appellate court to order the trade court to retain the commission's designation of information as business proprietary information unless the submitting party consents to disclosure (In re United States, Fed. Cir. # 25-127).
Petitioner Nucor filed an opening brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 7 challenging a trade court ruling that favored exporter KG Dongbu Steel, the mandatory respondent in a 2019 countervailing duty administrative review on corrosion-resistant steel products from Korea. It said the Commerce Department had “plainly satisfied” the legal standard for changing its position from one review to another (Nucor Corp. v. KG Dongbu Steel Co., Fed. Cir. # 25-1411).
The Court of International Trade sustained the Commerce Department's decision on remand to adjust exporter Trina Solar Co.'s antidumping duty rate based on three programs the agency countervailed in a related countervailing duty review. Judge Claire Kelly said Commerce reasonably adjusted the rate for only three of the six countervailed subsidies after finding that only three are export contingent.
The conservative Liberty Justice Center brought a lawsuit on behalf of five importers to challenge the constitutionality of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as a source of tariff-setting authority. The complaint, filed April 14 at the Court of International Trade, makes two claims: President Donald Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs exceed the president's statutory authority under IEEPA and, even if this statutory authority exists, it's an "unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority" (V.O.S. Selections v. Donald J. Trump, CIT # 25-00066).
The Court of International Trade on April 15 denied importer Under the Weather's motion for leave to amend its complaint to add a claim regarding CBP's prior tariff treatment of its imported pop-up tent "pods." Judge Timothy Reif said the proposed amended complaint "was filed after undue delay and is futile." The importer received duty-free treatment for the pods from 2010-18, but that ultimately ended in 2020 following an HQ ruling from CBP. The trade court previously rejected a claim from Under the Weather that CBP had to allow for a notice-and-comment period with the HQ ruling, since the agency previously accorded the pods a given tariff treatment. Under the Weather then tried to amend its complaint to newly cite two alleged examinations of the pods by CBP. Reif rejected the motion, finding that the importer waited too long to raise the issue and that the issue would be futile, since it "would not survive a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim."
CBP improperly declined to accept the proper valuation of various iron and steel products imported by NOA Brands America, the importer argued in an April 10 complaint at the Court of International Trade (NOA Brands America v. United States, CIT # 23-00109).
In April 8 oral argument involving a large number of parties, Court of International Trade Judge Jane Restani said she thinks she knows how she’ll rule on a petitioner’s Tier 2 price benchmark question about whether Kazakh natural gas export prices are available to Russian purchasers (Archer Daniels Midland Co. v. United States, CIT # 23-00239).
Counsel for two members of the Blackfeet Nation tribe that recently filed a lawsuit against the recent tariff action taken by President Donald Trump told us that she believes jurisdiction to be proper in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. Monica Tranel, the attorney for Montana state Sen. Susan Webber and rancher Jonathan St. Goddard, also said that she believes she can obtain a preliminary injunction against the spate of tariffs recently imposed on Canada due to the size of the harm to the agriculture and tourism industry in western Montana.
A group of five companies filed a complaint at the Court of International Trade challenging the president's authority to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The complaint, drafted by the conservative Liberty Justice Center, says President Donald Trump's use of IEEPA to impose "reciprocal" tariffs "exceeds his statutory authority." The lawsuit adds that even if IEEPA grants this authority, it amounts to an "unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority." The lawsuit is the third of its kind to challenge the use of IEEPA to impose tariffs but is the first to be filed at the trade court.