The Commerce Department legally levied adverse facts available related to China's Export Buyer's Credit Program and applied a 17% value-added tax rate in calculating the benchmark for the Chinese government's provision of primary aluminum for less than adequate remuneration, countervailing duty petitioner Aluminum Association Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet Trade Enforcement Working Group argued (Jiangsu Alcha Aluminum Co. v. United States, CIT # 22-00290).
The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to provide any rationale for adding Chinese printer cartridge manufacturer Ninestar Corp., along with eight of its Zhuhai-based subsidiaries, to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List, the companies, led by Ninestar, argued (Ninestar Corp., et al. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00182).
The Court of International Trade on Aug. 23 upheld the Commerce Department's deduction of Section 232 duties paid by Turkish exporter Noksel Celik Boru Sanayi from its U.S. price in the 2018-19 review of the antidumping duty order on light-walled rectangular pipe and tube from Turkey. Judge Jane Restani said she saw "no reason to vary" this finding, as previously made by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, regarding the government's move to raise the duties solely on Turkish goods.
The following lawsuit was recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
Exporter Oman Fasteners is drafting its own petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of the U.S. in the case on then-President Donald Trump's expansion of the Section 232 duties to include steel and aluminum "derivative" products. In an Aug. 21 letter to the high court, counsel for Oman Fasteners said that as a plaintiff-appellee aligned with importer PrimeSource Building Products -- the lead appellee in the suit at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit -- it supports PrimeSource's cause and will file a brief "within the timeframe permitted" by the law and the court's rules (PrimeSource Building Products v. United States, Sup. Ct. # 23-69).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in an Aug. 21 summary order affirmed a New York district court's dismissal of Brutus Trading's qui tam False Claims Act against Standard Chartered, which accused the financial firm of facilitating illegal banking transactions on behalf of sanctioned parties. After Brutus filed the qui tam case, in which a party with evidence of fraud against the U.S. government can file a lawsuit on behalf of the government, the U.S. then moved to toss the matter after finding that the "factual allegations were unsupported," the legal theory "was not cognizable, and the continuation of the suit would waste considerable government resources" (Brutus Trading v. Standard Chartered Bank, 2nd Cir. # 20-2578).
The Court of International Trade on Aug. 22 upheld the Commerce Department's exclusion of hardwood plywood made by Vietnam Finewood using two-ply panels imported into Vietnam from China from the scope of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on hardwood plywood from China. Judge Mark Barnett in an Aug. 22 opinion said the move was in line with his prior order instructing the agency to "issue a scope ruling consistent with the unambiguous terms" of the orders' scope.
The Court of International Trade on Aug. 21 upheld the Commerce Department's finding that the South Korean government's free provision of port usage rights at the Port of Incheon provided a countervailable benefit for exporter Hyundai Steel. Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves said that Commerce reasonably found it should conduct a revenue forgone analysis instead of a less than adequate remuneration analysis since Hyundai's non-payment of port usage fees involved a "type of financial contribution from revenue foregone" instead of the provision of services.
Statements from CBP employees that they witnessed the destruction of documents during a site visit as part of an Enforce and Protect Act investigation on importer Aspects Furniture International, as well as other discrepancies found in many of Aspects' entry documents, justified "wholesale adverse inferences against all" of the importers entries, the Court of International Trade ruled on Aug. 22.
Hong Kong and Ukraine formally accepted the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, becoming the 15th and 16th parties to do so, the WTO announced. The deal would impose rules to crack down on subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. The announcement by Hong Kong and Ukraine means nearly 40% of member states have ratified the deal, which requires acceptance by two-thirds of WTO members to enter into force.