Forced Labor

The Court of International Trade should condition its dismissal of a lawsuit seeking to release goods excluded over forced labor concerns on CBP honoring an agreement that would allow the goods to be exported, importer Virtus Nutrition argued in a Nov. 28 reply brief. Responding to the U.S.'s refusal to commit to honoring the Temporary Storage Agreement, which would ensure that the goods could be exported, Virtus said that it is not trying to extend the agreement, as the government argues, but merely to enforce it (Virtus Nutrition v. U.S., CIT #21-00165).

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation says the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports have been fruitless, and antidumping and countervailing duty laws also are inadequate to counter the wide variety of abuses from China -- industrial espionage, forced technology transfer, discrimination against foreign sales in China, as well as enormous subsidies. "It is time for the U.S. government, ideally working with allies, to craft and implement a new set of trade defense instruments," ITIF Founder Robert Atkinson wrote in a white paper released Nov. 21.

The Commerce Department admitted that it was "improper" to inflate a Mexican labor wage rate using Brazilian consumer price index (CPI) data in an antidumping duty investigation. Submitting its remand results on Nov. 14 to the Court of International Trade, Commerce said it reopened the record and added Mexican wage rate data. The agency also found on remand that exporter Guangzhou Ulix Industrial & Trading Co. met the burden for achieving separate rate status. The result of the remand is a zero percent dumping margin for respondents Ningbo Master International Trade Co., Guangzhou Jingye Machinery Co. and now Ulix (New American Keg v. United States, CIT #20-00008).

A Temporary Storage Agreement should end when it is obvious a party to the agreement is no longer seeking court judgment, DOJ said in a Nov. 3 response motion at the Court of International Trade (Virtus Nutrition v. United States, CIT #21-00165).

The World Uyghur Congress and the Global Legal Action Network launched a case at the High Court in London accusing U.K. government agencies of breaking the law by not investigating the importation of cotton products made by forced labor in China's Xinjiang region. The court heard a trial on Oct. 25 in which the WUC challenged the British home secretary, HM Revenue and Customs and the National Crime Agency for refusing to investigate goods allegedly made by forced labor of the Uyghur Muslim minority in the region, The Guardian reported.

The Court of International Trade should dismiss a case seeking to release goods excluded over forced labor concerns with the stipulation that CBP allow the goods to be exported, plaintiff Virtus Nutrition said in a Sept. 29 brief at the Court of International Trade. Responding to the trade court's order to show cause why the action should not be tossed for a lack of prosecution, Virtus said that it does not oppose dismissal, and in fact favors it, provided that it be allowed to export the excluded palm oil shipments in accordance with the terms of the agreement signed between Virtus and CBP in February 2021 (Virtus Nutrition v. United States, CIT #21-00165).

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Personal protective equipment manufacturer defendants, led by Smart Glove Holdings, failed to disclose they were under investigation by CBP for using forced labor, leading to over $68.5 million in damages to protective equipment supplier Airboss Defense Group (ADG), ADG said in a Sept. 19 complaint. Filing suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, ADG claimed that had it known about this investigation, it would not have agreed to source its gloves from Smart Glove and would have avoided the millions in charges, logistics costs and storage fees it incurred due to the imports being detained under a withhold release order (Airboss Defense Group v. Smart Glove Holdings, C.D. Calif. #2:22-06727).

The Commerce Department did not properly explain why it was appropriate to inflate a Mexican labor wage rate using Brazilian data in an antidumping duty investigation, the Court of International Trade ruled in a Sept. 13 opinion, made public Sept. 21. Commerce requested a voluntary remand in the case to further explain its decision, since it admitted to the court that it did not explain this position. Judge M. Miller Baker also sent the case back so the agency can identify the evidence in the record that supports granting Guangzhou Ulix Industrial & Trading Co. a separate rate.

The Court of International Trade in a Sept. 13 confidential order upheld parts and sent back parts of the Commerce Department's final determination in the antidumping duty investigation on refillable stainless steel kegs from China. In a letter, Judge M. Miller Baker said he intends to issue the public version of the opinion Sept. 21, giving the parties until Sept. 20 to review the confidential information in the opinion. In the case, Commerce dropped its reliance on Malaysian surrogate data after the trade court raised questions over the distortive effects of forced labor in Malaysia (see 2111050033). While the plaintiff, American Keg Co., signed off on this move, the plaintiff continued to oppose Commerce's surrogate data pick, pushing instead for Brazilian surrogate data (New American Keg d/b/a American Keg Co. v. U.S., CIT #20-00008).