Ashlande Gelin, a former attorney at the Commerce Department's Office of the Chief Counsel for Trade Enforcement and Compliance, left the agency to join Sidley Austin as a managing associate, she announced May 8 on LinkedIn. Gelin joined Commerce in 2021 after serving as a law clerk and attorney in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
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.
CBP will pay refunds of Section 301 duties paid on importer CITIC Dicastal Wheel Manufacturing's aluminum road wheels, the importer and the U.S. said in a stipulated judgment submitted to the Court of International Trade on April 30. The judgment said CITIC Dicastal's wheels were subject to an exclusion from a 10% Section 301 duty the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative granted for wheels imported under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 8708.70.4545, which provides for aluminum wheels for motor vehicles of heading 8701 to 8705 (CITIC Dicastal Wheel Manufacturing Co. v. United States, CIT # 21-00159).
Importer Mitsubishi Power Americas’ catalyst blocks were filters or purifiers and properly classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8421, not “other” catalytic reactors under 3815, the Court of International Trade ruled April 29.
Former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who served in that role in President Donald Trump's first term, told an audience at the Council on Foreign Relations that he thinks "there’s a reasonable chance the [Court of International Trade (CIT)] would enjoin" tariffs levied under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. Trump used IEEPA to levy 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico over fentanyl and migration, as well as 20% tariffs on China over fentanyl, and used it to levy 10% tariffs on countries other than those three, and an additional 125% tariffs on Chinese goods.
The Court of International Trade on April 24 assigned a case from 12 U.S. states challenging all tariff action taken under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to Judges Gary Katzmann, Timothy Reif and Jane Restani -- the same three judges assigned to another suit challenging IEEPA trade action (The State of Oregon, et al. v. Donald J. Trump, CIT # 25-00077).
The three judges assigned to the case challenging President Donald Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act -- Jane Restani, Gary Katzmann and Timothy Reif -- may be poised to rein in the administration's use of the act to impose tariffs, various attorneys told us. Based on their prior jurisprudence and professional backgrounds, the attorneys said, it seems likely the trio may pare back Trump's tariff-setting authority, though it's ultimately unclear to what extent.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative reappointed Devin Sikes, counsel for Akin Gump, to the U.S. roster for antidumping and countervailing duty disputes stemming from USMCA Chapter 10, the firm announced. The term is for the 2025-26 roster of individuals who may serve as panelists to settle binational disputes.
The Senate Finance Committee held a confirmation hearing on April 10 for William Kimmitt to serve as undersecretary of commerce for international trade. In this role, Kimmitt would lead the International Trade Administration, the wing of the Commerce Department tasked with enforcing antidumping and countervailing duty laws.
President Donald Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to enact his sweeping "retaliatory" tariffs (see 2504020086) has drawn serious speculation about whether the statute can serve as a proper basis for invoking the tariffs. Trade lawyers told us that potential issues arising from the use of IEEPA include the existence of tariff-making authority to address trade deficits under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, the "major questions" doctrine and the way in which the tariffs were calculated.