In response to a U.S. claim that it couldn't move for a motion on its pleadings before issues of fact were settled by discovery (see 2409260061), an importer of tubing for perforating guns said Oct. 15 that it was “impossible” for CBP to find that one of its products should have been classified under a different Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading between the time the importer sought a Section 232 exclusion request and the time it shipped its entry into the country (G&H Diversified Manufacturing v. U.S., CIT # 22-00130).
NEW YORK -- International Trade Commissioner Rhonda Schmidtlein recommended that counsel arguing before the commission more clearly articulate the source of alternative data used in injury proceedings and submit contemporaneous data before hearings, where possible. Speaking at the Court of International Trade's 22nd Judicial Conference Oct. 10 during a panel discussion on the state of trade-related agencies, Schmidtlein offered tips to arguing counsel on how to best capture the attention of the commissioners and ensure more seamless and robust hearings.
The Court of International Trade on Oct. 10 sent back the Commerce Department's use of partial adverse facts available against exporter Nippon Steel for its failure to submit sales data from some of its U.S. affiliates in the third review of the antidumping duty order on hot-rolled steel flat products from Japan. Judge Stephen Vaden said Commerce failed to grapple with Nippon Steel's limitations under Japanese law to collect this data from its affiliates.
The Court of International Trade on Oct. 10 rejected the Commerce Department's use of partial adverse facts available against exporter Nippon Steel for failing to submit certain U.S. sales data from an affiliated buyer in the third review of the antidumping duty order on hot-rolled steel flat products from Japan. Judge Stephen Vaden said Commerce failed to grapple with the company's claim that Japanese law barred it from obtaining the information, undercutting the notion that Nippon Steel failed to act to the best of its ability in responding to the agency's requests. Vaden also sustained Commerce's deduction of Section 232 duties from Nippon Steel's U.S. price in the third, fourth and fifth reviews of the AD order, noting that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has already sustained the agency's ability to take such action.
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The U.S. agreed to liquidate some of importer LE Commodities' steel tube entries without Section 232 duties and refund any duties paid, per the terms of a settlement reached by the parties in the importer's case against its denied requests for Section 232 exclusions (LE Commodities v. United States, CIT # 22-00245).
The Court of International Trade on Oct. 1 said court-led mediation in a suit from LE Commodities challenging 14 denied requests for exclusions from Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs resulted in a "settlement of all issues." Judge Leo Gordon led the mediation. Counsel for LE Commodities didn't respond to a request for comment on the nature of the settlement (LE Commodities v. United States, CIT # 22-00245).
An importer of tubing for perforating guns filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings despite the fact that issues of fact still remain unresolved, the U.S. said in a response brief Sept. 24 (G&H Diversified Manufacturing v. U.S., CIT # 22-00130).
The U.S. agreed to refund Section 232 duties that exporter ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada paid on its steel bars and rod imports, the parties said in a Sept. 20 stipulated judgment submitted to the Court of International Trade. The parties said the 47 entries at issue across seven cases brought by the company qualify for exclusion to the duties granted by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada v. United States, CIT # 21-00038).
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York: