The Court of International Trade in an Oct. 23 opinion denied importer PrimeSource Building Products' motion for a partial stay of enforcement of a judgment in its suit against President Donald Trump's expansion of Section 232 steel and aluminum duties onto "derivative" products while the decision is on appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court. Judges Jennifer Choe-Groves, M. Miller Baker and Timothy Stanceu said that PrimeSource "has not met its burden of demonstrating its entitlement to a different outcome than that reached by" the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit when that court denied a similar stay bid by the importer.
Trade lawyers and importers are wondering how the anti-stockpiling element of a two-year pause on trade remedy circumvention deposits will be enforced.
The Supreme Court should take up a case on whether President Donald Trump lawfully expanded Section 232 steel and aluminum duties to cover "derivative" products to decide how separation-of-powers principles apply to statutory interpretations delegating vast legislative power to the executive, petitioner PrimeSource Building Products argued. Filing a brief in response to the government's defense, PrimeSource claimed that its case gives the court a chance to "do something about" the government's position that the executive can exercise both Congress' legislative powers and the judiciary's "interpretive responsibilities" (PrimeSource Building Products v. United States, Sup. Ct. # 23-69).
The U.S. urged the Supreme Court of the United States to reject importer PrimeSource Building Products' petition for a writ of certiorari in a case on the expansion of Section 232 duties onto "derivative" products, telling the high court that PrimeSource's separation of powers claims fall flat. While the importer said the case can give the court a chance to reconsider its approach to nondelegation, the government argued that, under the principle of stare decisis, the petitioner must identify a "special justification" for revisiting established law, which it has failed to do here (PrimeSource Building Products v. U.S., Sup. Ct. # 23-69).
The Supreme Court of the U.S. on Sept. 13 extended the deadline for exporter Oman Fasteners to file a petition for a writ of certiorari in its case on then-President Donald Trump's expansion of the Section 232 duties to include steel and aluminum "derivative" products. The company now has until Oct. 20 to file the brief. Oman Fasteners said it was in the process of filing its own petition to the high court following importer PrimeSource Building Products' petition in its suit on the tariff expansion.
The World Trade Organization released panel reports covering two disputes between the U.S. and India after both countries came to a mutual solution. The countries in July told the Dispute Settlement Body they reached a solution in the disputes, including one disagreement over U.S. tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum and another involving India's imposition of additional duties on certain goods from the U.S. The mutually agreed solution came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the White House in June and was announced in conjunction with the resolution of other spats between the nations at the WTO (see 2307190064).
The Commerce Department legally selected Malaysian import data to value backsheet and ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA) in an antidumping duty review on solar cells from China because that data best corresponds to the inputs used by exporter Risen Energy Co., the U.S. argued in an Aug. 3 reply brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Risen Energy Co. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-11550).
Importer PrimeSource Building Products moved for a partial stay of the Court of International Trade's order dismissing its suit challenging President Donald Trump's expansion of Section 232 steel and aluminum duties onto "derivative" products. PrimeSource said it wants the order stayed pending the resolution of its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court (Primesource Building Products v. U.S., CIT # 20-00032).
The U.S. and India formally submitted their bids to end five disputes at the World Trade Organization, including a dispute surrounding India's retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. goods due to the Section 232 steel and aluminum duties. India and the U.S. told the WTO that mutually agreed to solutions were reached in India's disputes against U.S. countervailing duties on hot-rolled carbon steel flat products from India, measures on the renewable energy sector and Section 232 duties on steel and aluminum products. Solutions were also reached in the U.S. objection to India's measures on solar cells and modules and export-related restrictions. The deal to drop the cases was struck during a visit from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House in June (see 2306230038).
The Court of International Trade in a July 13 opinion dismissed a lawsuit from PrimeSource Building Products against President Donald Trump's move to expand Section 232 national security tariffs onto steel and aluminum "derivative" products pursuant to the mandate issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.