Domestic and foreign producers both contested the June 2007 - May 2008 AD administrative review results for silicon metal from China. U.S. producer Globe Metallurgical Inc. argued that the International Trade Administration should: 1) reduce U.S. prices in the dumping margin calculation to account for export and value added taxes in China; 2) use invoice dates, not entry dates, to define U.S. sales, and 3) use coking rather than non-coking coal values in input costs. Chinese producers Shanghai Jinneng International Trade Co., Ltd. and Jiangxi Gangyuan Silicon Industry Company, Ltd. argued that the ITA should not use an allegedly distressed or “sick” Indian surrogate company in the calculation of overhead, profit and S, G & A expense ratios, or should at least recalculate that company’s ratios to reflect an asset sale and miscellaneous income. The Court of International Trade remanded only this last issue, the surrogate company’s income and expense calculations, for further explanation, and upheld all the other contested aspects of the review.

The Court of International Trade has ruled in CBB Group, Inc., v. U.S., that its consideration of cases involving "deemed exclusions" and its ability to order relief, if warranted, is not precluded by CBP's issuance of a Seizure Notice (as it was issued after the case was brought to court) or by the prospect that adjudication of claims will involve the application of copyright law.

On June 28, 2011, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California announced that two commercial fishermen from San Diego plead guilty to illegally fishing for albacore tuna in Mexican waters without the fishing permits required under Mexican law, in violation of the Lacey Act. Nathan Lee, Captain of the ship Two Captains, and Scott Hawkins, Captain of the ship Jody H, admitted that after leaving port in San Diego, they navigated into Mexican waters and caught approximately 800 pounds of albacore tuna. Authorities determined that the vessels were fishing over a hundred miles into Mexican waters near Guadalupe Island when they caught the tuna. Each fisherman was sentenced to a term of three years of probation, and ordered to pay a fine of $500.

In a Justice Department brochure to the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other documents¹, DOJ explains that liability for FCPA violations includes knowing payments made through intermediaries (which can include customs agents, sales representatives, etc.) to foreign officials. Liability can also attach to pre- and post-acquisition and merger conduct, or so-called "successor liability."

The Supreme Court has reversed the Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit's decision to certify a plaintiff class of about 1.5 million current or former female Wal-Mart employees, who alleged that the discretion exercised by their local supervisors over pay and promotion matters discriminated against women. The plaintiffs sought an award of injunctive and declaratory relief and backpay. Among other things, the Supreme Court held that the class was improperly certified as there were no questions of law or fact common to the class to hold together the alleged reasons for the employment decisions.

The Court of International Trade ruled in CBB Group, Inc. v. U.S. that U.S. Customs and Border Protection cannot take action to dispose of imports it found to be piratical copies that infringe a registered copyright while the case is pending, as its Seizure Notice was issued after the importer’s case was brought and the court’s jurisdiction had attached. The importer is challenging CBP’s alleged exclusion of its plush toys from entry and CBP’s deemed denial of its protest of that event.

The Court of International Trade has ruled¹ that U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not err in denying Shell's 1997 protests seeking drawback of Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) and Environmental Tax (ET) payments associated with certain petroleum products that it imported and substitute petroleum derivatives it exported in 1993 and 1994. The CIT agreed with CBP that Shell is not entitled to drawback as its protests were untimely.

The Justice Department announced on June 23, 2011 that a total of seven individuals and five corporate entities based in the U.S., France, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran have been indicted to date for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to illegally export military components for fighter jets and attack helicopters from the U.S. to Iran. The indictments are for alleged violations of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the Iranian Transactions Regulations, etc.

On June 6, 2011, the Justice Department announced that Dimitrios Grifakis, the chief engineer of the Liberian-operated cargo ship M/V Capitola, was sentenced to six months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for obstructing a May 2010 Coast Guard inspection into the illegal overboard discharge of oily waste. Grifakis had denied having ordered anyone to pump oily waste overboard and falsified documents to hide these discharges from inspectors in ports visited by the Capitola. Grifakis also obstructed the investigation by concealing certain ship's records and then denying that such records existed.

In the antidumping duty administrative review of certain hot-rolled carbon steel flat products from India for the period December 2005 through November 2006, the International Trade Administration granted an adjustment to U.S. price to Indian producer Essar Steel Limited for import duties which the company claimed were waived under an Indian Government program to encourage exports. However, U.S. producers United States Steel Corporation and Nucor Corporation argued to the Court of International Trade that Essar had failed to prove that it had qualified for the rebate. Conceding it had made erroneous assumptions, the ITA requested a voluntary remand to reconsider the duty drawback adjustment, and the CIT issued remand instructions accordingly. (Slip Op 11-66, dated 06/14/11)