The Court of International Trade on July 9 sustained CBP's finding that importers American Pacific Plywood, InterGlobal Forest and U.S. Global Forest evaded the antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders on plywood from China through Cambodian manufacturer LB Wood. Judge M. Miller Baker held that all that's required for liability to attach under the Enforce and Protect Act is "the entry of covered merchandise through any material false statement or material omission that avoids antidumping and countervailing duties, except those resulting from clerical errors," noting that even clerical errors are evasion if they are "part of a pattern of negligent conduct." The judge also held that CBP isn't precluded from finding that shipments from LB Wood are of Chinese origin in light of two other CIT cases the agency settled in which it said shipments from LB Wood are of Cambodian origin. Baker said the doctrine of judicial estoppel doesn't apply here, however, since CBP didn't succeed in advancing a position "directly inconsistent" with its theory in the present case, given that its initial position in the two settled cases was identical to its position here "but it then ran up the white flag."
Supporting the Commerce Department’s reluctant reversal on remand finding that bricks imported by Fedmet Resources Corp. weren’t covered by antidumping duties or countervailing duties on magnesia carbon bricks, (see 2503130022), the U.S. said July 3 that a petitioner’s opposition really seeks just to have the Court of International Trade reconsider its decision (Fedmet Resources Corp. v. United States, CIT # 23-00117).
The Court of International Trade in a confidential July 8 decision sustained the Commerce Department's remand results in a case on the 2021-22 review of the antidumping duty order on frozen warmwater shrimp from India.
In July 2 oral argument for a case on antidumping duty and countervailing duty injury investigations on freight rail couplers, parties before Court of International Trade Judge Gary Katzmann wrestled with what one attorney described as a truly novel issue: whether it was lawful of the International Trade Commission to initiate an injury investigation two months after reaching a negative injury finding for the same imports (Wabtec Corp. v. United States, CIT Consol. # 23-00157).
Court of International Trade Judge Stephen Vaden resigned from the court on July 4 and was sworn in as deputy secretary of the Department of Agriculture on July 7. Vaden was confirmed by the U.S. Senate last month to serve in the number two role at USDA (see 2506120064).
Five importers challenging the tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that the government's defense of the tariffs' legality falls short. The importers, represented by the conservative advocacy group Liberty Justice Center, argued that IEEPA categorically doesn't provide for tariffs, IEEPA is precluded from being used to address trade deficits due to the existence of Section 122, and the Court of International Trade was right to issue an injunction against the tariffs (V.O.S. Selections v. Donald J. Trump, Fed. Cir. # 25-1812).
The Commerce Department improperly found that U.S. company Aloha Pencil didn't qualify as a domestic manufacturer, producer or wholesaler, which led to the recission of the 2023-24 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on cased pencils from China, Aloha argued in a July 7 complaint at the Court of International Trade (Aloha Pencil Company v. United States, CIT # 25-00102).
Neal Katyal, former acting solicitor general in the Barack Obama administration, will argue against the legality of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on July 31. The Liberty Justice Center, the conservative advocacy group that initially brought the case on behalf of various importers, tapped Katyal to argue the case at the Federal Circuit (V.O.S. Selections v. Donald J. Trump, Fed. Cir. # 25-1812).
The Court of International Trade on July 3 sustained CBP's finding that importers Newtrend USA, Starille and Nutrawave evaded the antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders on glycine from China via Indonesia-based exporter PT Newtrend Nutrition Ingredient. Judge Stephen Vaden said CBP adequately supported its finding that PT Newtrend's Indonesian factory couldn't produce all the glycine it shipped to the U.S. and that at least some of the exported glycine was sourced in China.
The Court of International Trade on July 3 denied the International Trade Commission's request to redact five pieces of information from the court's public version of its decision remanding the commission's affirmative injury determination on phosphate fertilizer from Morocco and Russia. Concurrently, Judge Stephen Vaden released the public decision, which said the record "raises serious questions about whether domestic producers were able and willing to supply consumers during the period of review."