The Court of International Trade will hold oral argument July 12 at 10 a.m. EDT in customs broker Seko Customs Brokerage's case against CBP's suspension of the company from participation in the Entry Type 86 pilot and Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program. Judge Claire Kelly will hear argument on Seko's application for a temporary restraining order and motion for preliminary injunction (Seko Customs Brokerage v. U.S., CIT # 24-00097).
The Court of International Trade on June 17 (see 2406170037) -- in an opinion released publicly July 10 -- upheld a CBP finding that six companies didn’t evade antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum extrusions from China by transshipping them through the Dominican Republic. Judge Richard Eaton explained that CBP had reasonably reinterpreted record evidence within the context of other information it had failed to consider previously.
The Court of International Trade on July 10 kept the vast majority of the confidential record shielded from the public in Chinese printer cartridge exporter Ninestar Corp.'s suit against its placement on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List. Judge Gary Katzmann only ordered an eight-page stretch of the confidential record unsealed, given that it detailed the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force's "standard operating procedures."
Court of International Trade Judge Stephen Vaden on July 11 upheld the Commerce Department's use of adverse facts available for an aluminum exporter that could offer only a noncertified statement of nonuse from its sole customer, saying that Commerce isn't required to verify “incomplete or unverifiable” information (Jiangsu Alcha Aluminum Co. v. U.S., CIT # 22-00290).
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
Importer Performance Additives will appeal a May Court of International Trade decision finding that a duty drawback claim becomes deemed liquidated after one year if the underlying import entries are also liquidated and final, with finality defined as the end of the 180-day window in which to file a protest with CBP (see 2405310073). Judge Jane Restani said that as a result one of Performance Additives' drawback claims was deemed liquidated but another of its claims wasn't, since its entries weren't liquidated and final within one year of the claim being made. The importer will take the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Performance Additives v. United States, CIT # 22-00044).
A hardwood plywood importer that won its 2022 case against an affirmative evasion finding is seeking payment of its court expenses and attorney’s fees from the U.S. government. The importer on July 8 said CBP’s investigation against it had never been supported by substantial evidence and was instead the result of “bad acts” and “various violations of federal regulations” by the government (Interglobal Forest v. U.S., CIT # 22-00240).
CBP was right to reverse its finding that an aluminum extrusions exporter from the Dominican Republic had been transshipping from China, the Court of International Trade ruled in a public opinion released July 10. Judge Richard Eaton agreed that the agency had properly considered some overlooked evidence and recontextualized others -- conducting, as CBP had said, a “thorough and comprehensive” review of the previous determination “for the first time in this proceeding” (H&E Home v. U.S., CIT Consol. # 21-00337).
The Court of International Trade sustained CBP's finding that Dominican exporter Kingtom Aluminio didn't evade antidumping and countervailing duty orders on aluminum extrusions from China. In a June 13 decision made public July 8, Judge Richard Eaton said Kingtom responded to all U.S. requests for information during an Enforce and Protect Act investigation, precluding the use of adverse facts available. He also said the court can't ignore "the total lack of any record evidence of any imports by Kingtom into the Dominican Republic" of aluminum extrusions made in China.
The Court of International Trade on July 10 granted in part and denied in part Chinese printer cartridge exporter Ninestar Corp.'s motion to unseal and unredact the confidential record in the company's suit against its placement on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List. Judge Gary Katzmann kept most of the confidential information in the case from the public, save for an eight-page chunk of the confidential record, which describes the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force's "standard operating procedures." Katzmann also kept most of the privileged information on the record away from Ninestar's counsel, with a few exceptions, on the grounds that, if revealed, the information would endanger a key informant.