Counsel for four members of the Blackfeet Nation tribe challenging certain tariff action taken by President Donald Trump said the Supreme Court's recent decision in AARP v. Trump supports its interlocutory appeal of a Montana district court's decision to transfer the case to the Court of International Trade (Susan Webber v. U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec., 9th Cir. # 25-2717).
The Court of International Trade on May 19 granted importer Inspired Ventures' motion to refer its customs suit to court-annexed mediation. Judge Lisa Wang disagreed with the government's reasons for opposing mediation, which included claims that the controversy in the case is "legal in nature" and thus "not amenable to mediation" (Inspired Ventures v. United States, CIT # 24-00062).
Twelve U.S. states challenging all tariff actions taken under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act traded briefs with the government on the legality of the tariffs ahead of a May 21 hearing on the states' motion for summary judgment and a preliminary injunction. The parties sparred on whether the eight states that didn't act as direct importers have standing to challenge the tariffs, whether the IEEPA tariffs have a reasonable connection to the declared threats of trade deficits and the flow of fenantyl, and whether the term "regulate" in the statute confers the power to impose tariffs (The State of Oregon v. Donald J. Trump, CIT # 25-00077).
The District Court for Northern Florida on May 20 transferred a case challenging tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to the Court of International Trade. Judge T. Kent Wetherell said Yoshida International v. U.S. controls the question of whether IEEPA allows for the imposition of tariffs. In that case, an appellate court said the Trading With the Enemy Act, IEEPA's predecessor, includes the power to impose tariffs, since the power to "regulate" necessarily includes the power to impose duties. Wetherell said he sees "no reason why" the Yoshida court's reasoning "would not apply to IEEPA because the operative language of IEEPA is identical to the operative language in TWEA." However, the judge said his holding shouldn't affect the merits of the case, adding that it will be up to the trade court to determine what effect the "jurisdictional determination that IEEPA" provides for tariffs "impacts the merits of Plaintiffs' claims."
The Court of International Trade on May 21 remanded the Commerce Department's second remand results in a case on the antidumping duty investigation on common alloy aluminum sheet from Turkey. Judge Gary Katzmann held that Commerce unlawfully failed to respond to an objection from the petitioner, the Aluminum Association Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet Trade Enforcement Working Group, that one of respondent Assan Aluminyum's submissions to the agency on remand contained new information that didn't rebut, clarify or correct information submitted in the petitioner's rebuttal regarding Assan's duty drawback adjustment. Katzmann also held that Commerce unlawfully failed to respond to the petitioner's objection to the agency's reliance on "unverified information" in two of Assan's submissions on remand.
The Commerce Department improperly used the financial statements of Indonesian company PT Suparma in the antidumping duty investigation on paper plates from Vietnam, respondent Go-Pak Vietnam argued in a May 17 complaint at the Court of International Trade. The respondent also challenged Commerce's decision to use a simple average of the average unit values from two different subheadings to value its paper input, despite evidence showing that the company's paper is classified under only one of the subheadings (Go-Pak Paper Products Vietnam Co. v. United States, CIT # 25-00070).
The Court of International Trade on May 19 upheld CBP's final determination that importer Vanguard Trading Co. evaded the antidumping duty order on Chinese quartz countertops. Judge Timothy Reif issued a confidential decision in the case upholding the evasion determination. Among other things, Vanguard challenged the strict liability standard that CBP established for importers regarding evasion and its ability to decide when it must seek scope clarification from the Commerce Department during Enforce and Protect Act duty evasion investigations (Vanguard Trading Co. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00253).
The Court of International Trade upheld May 16 the Commerce Department’s affirmative circumvention finding for solar cells from Cambodia, saying again -- as it did in a concurrent case -- (see 2505160045) that Commerce’s reliance on one country-of-origin factor, level of research and development investment, was reasonable.
The Court of International Trade on May 19 sent back the Commerce Department's circumvention finding on solar cells from Vietnam just days after sustaining two circumvention findings on solar cells from Thailand and Cambodia. Judge M. Miller Baker said in the Vietnamese circumvention case that Commerce "arbitrarily treated its adverse facts available finding as the administrative equivalent of landing on 'Go to Jail.'"
Gibson Dunn brought a suit to the Court of International Trade on behalf of a small Michigan-based importer, Detroit Axle, to challenge President Donald Trump's revocation of the de minimis threshold for Chinese goods. The complaint, filed on May 16, argues that Trump exceeded his statutory authority in eliminating de minimis for goods from China and acted arbitrarily and capriciously in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (Axle of Dearborn, d/b/a Detroit Axle v. Dep't of Commerce, CIT # 25-00091).