South Korea Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee dropped her candidacy for World Trade Organization director-general, clearing a path for Nigeria's Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to be elected. Announcing her decision at a Feb. 5 briefing in Seoul, Yoo said it was made in coordination with the U.S. as a way to reach a consensus among WTO members on the one candidate who will lead the organization, according to a report in The Korea Herald.
A three-judge Court of International Trade panel will oversee all cases tackling the legality of lists 3 and 4 Section 301 China tariffs, Chief Judge Timothy Stanceu said in an order signed Feb. 5. Judges Mark Barnett, Claire Kelly and Jennifer Choe-Groves -- the three most senior active judges on the court -- were assigned to hear one of the largest mass filings in the court's history.
Firearms trade expert Michael Andersen is the new director of regulatory services for Orchid, a federal firearms license business and compliance software company. Andersen will lead Orchid's international trade practice related to import/export licensing, alcohol, tobacco and firearms compliance, and firearms e-commerce regulations, the company said in a news release. Previously, Andersen was the director of compliance at Brownells, working on federal firearms compliance and international trade programs.
The Court of International Trade on Feb. 4 denied a broad challenge to Section 232 tariffs on steel products (see 1912040033), finding against a group of steel importers that had challenged the initial proclamation that set the tariffs, as well as procedural steps that formed the basis for the action. One of several recent cases challenging the tariffs, this one differed in its focus on the Commerce Department report that preceded the tariffs, as well as the proclamation's failure to set an explicit expiration date. The trade court found in favor of the government on both issues, holding that the Commerce report was not a final agency action that could be challenged in court and that the law behind Section 232 does not require the president to decide a date when the tariffs will end.
The Commerce Department did not provide enough assistance to three exporters of Indian shrimp as required by law during antidumping duty administrative reviews, the Court of International Trade said in a Jan. 3 decision. During a review of frozen warmwater shrimp from India, Indian exporters Calcutta Seafoods, Bay Seafood and Elque & Co. were not granted sufficient help after requesting it from the Commerce, CIT said, ordering Commerce to reconsider the antidumping rates it placed on the three companies' shrimp imports, with specific instructions to reopen the administrative review to further help the importers provide adequate information for the review.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 25-31:
Detention and demurrage disruptions are causing devastating damage to U.S. intermodal carriers and are placing large burdens on the shipping and transportation industry, the Harbor Trucking Association said in a new report. The association, which represents U.S. drayage carriers serving West Coast ports, and TradeLanes, a technology company focused on streamlining global commodity trade, surveyed HTA members and found that more than half reported critical negative effects on their business from the detention and demurrage costs. Detention and demurrage is common in the industry as well, with 64% of respondents saying that they incur them on more than 15% of their containers with the average price around $200 per container. Once the charges are levied, governmental relief is rarely given, with 80% of respondents saying they got charges reduced 0-25% of the time. The charges cost more than money, evidenced by the majority of respondents saying the invoices take at least 45 minutes to complete.
The Court of International Trade on Jan. 27 declined to dismiss a nail importer's challenge to Section 232 steel "derivatives" tariffs, but stopped short of finding in the importer's favor. In a lengthy opinion that drew an even longer dissent, two members of a three-judge CIT panel ruled against the government's motion to dismiss PrimeSource's claims that the derivatives tariffs ran afoul of the deadlines for tariff changes under Section 232, but held that more information was needed before it could render a final decision.
Russian steel company NLMK filed a lawsuit against U.S. Steel alleging the Pittsburgh-based company misled the Department of Commerce when it objected to the Section 232 exclusion requests filed by NLMK. The company filed the complaint in a Pennsylvania state court Jan. 22 and is seeking more than $100 million in damages for unfair competition. NLMK previously reached a settlement with the government over what it said was improperly denied exclusion requests (see 2010200029).
Shipman & Goodwin LLP promoted the head of its international trade practice Alfredo Fernández to partner in the Hartford, Conn. office, the firm announced via a press release on Jan. 25. Fernández previously worked as an associate at the firm and as an aerospace engineer before his career in law began in 2012.