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.
The U.K. High Court of Justice's Administrative Court on Aug. 18 rejected a sanctions designation appeal by Eugene Shvidler, an associate of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and a director of mining giant Evraz. The court ruled the designation was "proportionate" and not "discriminatory."
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that MTS Logistics, a New York-based non-vessel operating common carrier, is not liable to Turkish manufacturing firm Saray Dokum ve Madeni Aksam Sanayi Turizm for 1,534,000 kg of S-PVC Resin Formosa Formolon 622. Saray said MTS failed to deliver the Resin it bought from Oxyde Chemicals to Istanbul from Houston as provided for in two bills of lading issued by MTS (Saray Dokum ve Madeni Aksam Sanayi Turizm v. MTS Logistics, S.D.N.Y. # 17-07495).
The Court of International Trade in a confidential Aug. 21 opinion again sent back the Commerce Department's decision not to investigate the alleged off-peak sale of electricity below cost as part of the 2018 review of the countervailing duty order on carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate from South Korea. Judge Mark Barnett also remanded for a second time the agency's decision not to treat POSCO Plantec, an affiliate of respondent POSCO, as a cross-owned input supplier of POSCO regarding the supply of scrap (Nucor Corp. v. United States, CIT # 21-00182).
Law firm Alston & Bird agreed to resolve a dispute with Ohio-based Mark One Wipes regarding the company's claims that the firm gave it negligent legal advice related to the labeling of hand-sanitizing wipes imports. Mark One launched its suit in February 2022, claiming that the faulty advice led to injury, including the costs of making, shipping and storing a "useless product," reputational harm and lost profits.
Mediation was unsuccessful in a case from U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman against three of her colleagues' investigation into the judge's fitness to continue serving on the court. Per a joint status report submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the parties are looking to continue briefing on Newman's motion for a preliminary injunction against the Federal Circuit Judicial Council's order barring Newman from receiving new cases (Hon. Pauline Newman v. Hon. Kimberly Moore, D.D.C. # 23-01334).
The Commerce Department failed to consider the "reliance interests" of antidumping petitioners led by Bonney Forge Co. when sticking by its decision to find that questionnaires issued in lieu of on-site verification satisfied the statute's requirement for verification, the Court of International Trade ruled on Aug. 21. Judge Stephen Vaden said that while past practice "is not an inescapable straitjacket," an agency must put a "reasoned explanation on the record" in compliance with the rules established by the Supreme Court in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California.