The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
Taiwanese corrosion-resistant steel products exporters Yieh Phui Enterprise Co. and Prospeity Tieh signed off on the Commerce Department's remand results in an antidumping duty matter at the Court of International Trade. On remand, Commerce reversed its decision to collapse mandatory respondents Yieh Phui and Synn Industrial Co. with one of their affiliates, Propserity Tieh Enterprise Co., in a bid to bring its stance in line with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. "It is our position that the Department’s decision on the collapsing issue made in the Remand Results is in line with the [Federal Circuit's] decision," Yieh Phui's comments said (Prosperity Tieh Enterprise Co., Ltd. v. United States, CIT Consol. #16-00138).
Italian pasta exporters La Molisana and Valdigrano di Flavio Pagani have not provided "compelling reasons" for the Commerce Department to part with its "longstanding" and "reasonable" practice for reporting the protein content of pasta in an antidumping case, the U.S. told the Court of International Trade in a March 28 brief. Rather, the relevant statute, past agency practice and case law all show that Commerce properly based its product-matching criteria on physical characteristics. In doing so, the agency said it legally derived the pasta's protein content -- a physical characteristic -- from the nutrition information on the packaging label (La Molisana v. United States, CIT Consol. #21-00291).
The Commerce Department improperly found that Krakatau POSCO -- a joint venture between a private South Korean steel company and an Indonesian government-owned firm -- was not a government authority, leading Commerce to find its provision of cut-to-length steel plate below cost was not countervailable, the Wind Tower Trade Coalition said. Making its case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a March 28 opening brief, the coalition said that Commerce "effectively elevated form over substance, frustrated the intent of the CVD law" and allowed Indonesia's wind tower exporter to "escape duties" (PT. Kenertec Power System v. U.S., CIT Consol. #20-03687).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a 35% duty rate for StarKist's tuna salad pouches, agreeing with CBP's preferred Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading, in a March 30 opinion. Upholding the Court of International Trade's opinion, Judges Kimberly Moore, Timothy Dyk and Jimmie Reyna said that the tuna pouches were "not minced" and "in oil," prompting their placement under subheading 1604.14.10.
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the sanctions listing of Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, finding that the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control provided proper evidence for the listing. The court also held that while Deripaska was found to no longer own two major energy companies, OFAC found him to still operate them, justifying his placement in the Russian sanctions regime.
Washington-based importer Keirton USA isn't permitted to import drug paraphernalia since Washington state law doesn't expressly authorize the possession of such items, the U.S. told the Court of International Trade in a March 28 cross-motion for judgment. If the state's current laws did authorize possession of drug paraphernalia, then the mere absence of criminal liability -- the situation in Washington -- would consume the whole statute federally outlawing possession of drug paraphernalia, DOJ said (Keirton USA, Inc. v. United States, CIT #21-00452).
The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund is an illegal tax on exports and may not be enforced by the U.S., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit said in a March 24 opinion. Affirming oil exporter Trafigura Trading's win in a Texas district court, Judges Jacques Wiener and James Ho ruled that the fund constitutes a tax, rather than a user fee, and violates the constitutional ban on export taxes. Judge James Graves dissented, writing that because there was a legitimate dispute on whether the fund is a user fee, the district court's order should be vacated (Trafigura Trading v. U.S., 5th Cir. #21-20127).
The Court of International Trade on March 28 upheld the International Trade Commission's affirmative injury determination in the antidumping duty and countervailing duty investigations on wood mouldings and millwork from China. Judge Leo Gordon said that Chinese exporter Jeld-Wen failed to successfully argue that laminated veneer lumber (LVL) is not included in the domestic like product for wood mouldings and millwork and that other economic factors, and not imports, caused the domestic injury. On the latter point, Gordon said that Jeld-Wen needed to show that its conclusion is the only one to be drawn from the record and not the preferred one -- something the plaintiff failed to do.