The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sustained both the Commerce Department's 2018-19 and 2019-20 reviews of the antidumping duty order on activated carbon from China in a pair of decisions. Judges Richard Taranto, Alvin Schall and Raymond Chen upheld Commerce's surrogate value picks in both reviews.
Judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit pressed counsel for respondent Hyundai Steel Co. during May 9 oral argument on whether the company's collection of berthing fees from third parties on a port it built in South Korea can be considered countervailable subsidies. Judges Raymond Chen, Tiffany Cunningham and Kimberly Moore repeatedly asked whether Hyundai's case is precluded by the court's 1999 decision in AK Steel v. U.S. (Hyundai Steel Co. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 24-1100).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on May 9 upheld the Court of International Trade's classification of 14 mixtures of frozen fruits and vegetables under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 0811.90.80, the residual category for "other" frozen fruit.
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.
Joyce Adetutu, a former partner at Baker Botts, has joined Vinson & Elkins as a partner in the export controls and economic sanctions practice, the firm announced. Adetutu's practice centers on export controls, trade, sanctions and tariff issues, including reviews conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the firm said.
The European Commission opened a public consultation regarding a list of U.S. imports that could become subject to tariffs in response to the flurry of U.S. trade action, should talks with the White House fall through, the commission announced. The list covers over $107 billion worth of U.S. imports, including a "broad range of industrial and agricultural products," it said.
The following lawsuit was filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
Judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on May 7 questioned both exporter AG der Dillinger Huttenwerke and the U.S. regarding the exporter's proposed quality code for sour service pressure vessel plate and the Commerce Department's use of Dillinger's sales price as the cost of production for non-prime steel plate. Judges Jimmie Reyna, Timothy Dyk and Alan Lourie's questions regarding the non-prime plate centered on whether the issue was foreclosed by the CAFC's previous holding in Dillinger France v. U.S. (AG der Dillinger Huttenwerke v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 24-1498).
CBP cannot unilaterally decide to reliquidate entries that were erroneously liquidated while subject to a suspension order from the Court of International Trade, the trade court held on May 8. Judge Gary Katzmann said an "enjoined party is not empowered to choose and implement the remedy for its own violations of an injunction," writing that that power is the court's alone.
The Court of International Trade on May 6 denied a motion to compel discovery of unredacted versions of CBP officials' internal emails from importer Quantified Operations and manufacturer WobbleWorks (HK) in a customs case on the classification of the companies' 3D pens. Judge Richard Eaton said the redacted information isn't relevant to the classification claims and is "protected by the deliberative process privilege" (Quantified Operations v. United States, CIT # 22-00178).