The Labor Department said that it properly relied on information from senior legal counsel for AT&T when it denied a unionized group of former AT&T call workers trade adjustment assistance, in March 17 remand results at the Court of International Trade. Labor Certifying Officer at the Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance Hope Kinglock said one member of AT&T's senior legal counsel team "demonstrated an active knowledge and understanding of the statutory requirement of Section 222(d)(3)(B) of the Trade Act" requested by Labor. "The Department considered this diligent effort to seek out the best official to certify information on behalf of AT&T, which, together with the factors noted above, contributed to the Department’s determination that it is reasonable to conclude that information that [AT&T's legal counsel] provided later in the investigation was accurate and complete without certification," Kinglock said (Communications Workers of America Local 4123, on behalf of Former Employees of AT&T Services Inc. v. U.S. Secretary of Labor, CIT #20-00075).
South Korean steel exporter Hyundai Steel Company filed a proposed judgment in a countervailing duty case after the Court of International Trade told litigants to do so as resolution of the matter was reached following a voluntary remand from the Commerce Department (see 2203100028). The proposed order would have the trade court sustain Commerce's remand results. In the remand, Commerce said that a South Korean sewerage fees program was not countervailable, leading to a de minimis rate for Hyundai Steel. In a March 9 joint status report, Hyundai and the U.S. said that case was resolved following the voluntary remand. The case concerns the 2018 CVD administrative review of cut-to-length carbon-quality steel plate from South Korea (Hyundai Steel Company v. United States, CIT #21-00012).
Nucor Corporation says the Commerce Department should have added countervailing duties in an administrative review for the South Korean government's provision of electricity below cost for certain tariff classes, instead of finding the provision of electricity conferred a "non-measurable benefit." In its March 18 complaint at the Court of International Trade, Nucor took particular issue with Commerce's decision to run a "tier three" analysis into the alleged benefit (Nucor Corporation v. United States, CIT #22-00050).
A customs lawsuit is set to enter the second phase of its bench trial to find whether importer SGS Sports' apparel qualifies for duty-free treatment, the Court of International Trade said in a March 21 opinion. SGS entered swimsuits under a duty-free special classification provision after first shipping them to Canada for warehousing at a supposedly related company's warehouse. The first phase of the trial was set up to find whether this warehousing agreement is a lease or similar use agreement. Finding the agreement to be a lease or similar use agreement, Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves's decision allows the trial to proceed to the next phase, which will be to determine if the swimsuits qualify for duty-free treatment under HTS subheading 9801.00.20.
The Court of International Trade on March 21 sustained the Commerce Department's remand results in a challenge brought by The Ancientree Cabinet Co. to the antidumping duty investigation of wooden cabinets and vanities from China. Judge Gary Katzmann upheld Commerce's financial ratio calculations after the agency provided more explanation on remand..
The Court of International Trade on March 18 dismissed a lawsuit filed by Wheatland Tube Company seeking to compel CBP to respond to requests for information and issue a tariff classification ruling, finding CBP provided the information it was required to by law. Judge Timothy Stanceu said that CBP provided the information and that the agency was correct to say that the requests for information weren't proper.
Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps should not be allowed to amend its complaint since the case cannot be amended to claim jurisdiction over a denied protest after the 180-day window to file a challenge has lapsed, the Justice Department said in a March 18 reply brief at the Court of International Trade. The U.S. also contested Dr. Bronner's motion since it sought to only amend the complaint and not the summons (All One God Faith v. United States, CIT Consol. #20-00164).
Chinese exporter JA Solar International's sales were destined for the U.S., and the Commerce Department was wrong to exclude the sales in an antidumping duty review, the exporter argued in a brief to the Court of International Trade. As evidence, JA cited respondent Inventec Solar Energy Corporation's (ISEC's) questionnaire responses showing its knowledge that the sales were meant for the U.S., corroborating evidence from ISEC on this point and evidence from JA Solar supporting ISEC's admissions of knowledge (JA Solar International Limited v. United States, CIT #21-00514).
The Commerce Department's decision to deem countervailable exporter Dongbu Steel's debt-for-equity swaps was unsupported, and violated the agency's own standard practice of not reexamining subsidy programs that were previously found non-countervailable without any new information, Dongbu Steel said in a March 17 complaint at the Court of International Trade (KG Dongbu Steel Co. v. United States, CIT #22-00047).
The Judicial Conference voted to automate the release of judges' financial disclosure reports in a bid to increase transparency, federal courts announced March 15. Approving the new measures at its biannual meeting, the policymaking body also discussed ongoing efforts to establish an online platform to release judges' financial disclosure reports. The online system will include features needed for filing and redacting these reports, along with the feature of automating their release.