Trade Law Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week, in case you missed them. All articles can be found by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
President-elect Donald Trump will most likely either turn to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) or Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose his recently announced tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, said trade lawyers interviewed by Trade Law Daily. Though much remains unknown about how Trump will impose these tariffs, the president-elect may turn to the two broad statutes to impose the tariffs to accomplish his stated goals of curbing the flow of migrants and fentanyl into the U.S.
Trade Law Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week, in case you missed them. All articles can be found by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
If a reelected President Donald Trump uses the existing Section 301 tariffs program to hike tariffs on all Chinese goods by at least 60%, that's likely to survive a court challenge, said two law professors who spoke during a Washington International Trade Association webinar on the executive branch's ability to make deals and impose trade restrictions without congressional say-so.
Domestic steel producer Zekelman Industries filed a lawsuit on Oct. 21 in a Washington, D.C., federal court alleging that the Mexican government breached its 2019 agreement with the U.S. to slow imports of Mexican steel products. The company argued that Mexico's breach of the deal "has devastated the U.S. steel industry," forcing the company to close two plants due to the oversupply of cheap steel (Zekelman Industries v. United States, D.D.C. # 24-02992).
Texas-based syringe importer Retractable Technologies took to the Court of International Trade to contest the 100% increase of Section 301 tariffs recently imposed on needles and syringes from China. The complaint is seeking a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against the duties, claiming that the tariffs could send the company out of business (Retractable Technologies v. United States, CIT # 24-00185).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in an Aug. 13 opinion again affirmed the president's ability to make trade-restrictive modifications to Section 201 safeguard tariffs. Judges Alan Lourie, Richard Taranto and Leonard Stark partially granted a group of solar cell exporters' motion for panel rehearing of its 2023 decision, which came to the same conclusion, so that the court could conduct a de novo review of the applicable statute, instead of reviewing whether the president's interpretation of the law was a "clear misconstruction" of the statute.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Aug. 13 again said President Donald Trump didn't violate the Trade Act of 1974 when he revoked a Section 201 tariff on bifacial solar panels. The court previously sustained the move in a November 2023 decision (see 2311130031). Partially granting a group of solar cell exporters' motion for panel reconsideration, Judges Alan Lourie, Richard Taranto and Leonard Stark conducted a de novo review of the president's interpretation of the applicable statute allowing for the tariff action instead of reviewing whether the interpretation was a "clear misconstruction" of the statute. However, the panel said that the case isn't an "appropriate vehicle" for overruling the court's "clear misconstruction" standard of review for presidential decisions under the Trade Act.
The Solar Energy Industries Association told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that the Supreme Court's recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo scrapping the doctrine of Chevron deference to federal agencies should compel the appellate court to overturn the deferential standard established in Maple Leaf Fish Co. v. United States (see 2406280051) (Solar Energy Industries Association v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 22-1392).
The Biden administration's proposed Section 301 tariff hikes on various Chinese goods (see 2405220072) would continue to skirt World Trade Organization commitments and strip the global economy of international tribunals, which are key to curbing "persistent protectionism," said George Washington Law School professor Steve Charnovitz in comments on the proposed tariffs.