The Court of International Trade dismissed a challenge to CBP’s extensions of the liquidation deadline on entries of citric acid from India and the Dominican Republic. CBP and ICE had been investigating possible transshipment of citric acid from China through India and the Dominican Republic to evade antidumping and countervailing duties. Plaintiffs Chemsol and MC International argued that the investigation was inactive because CBP and ICE had not requested new information from the companies, and so CBP was unjustified in its extensions. But the court said CBP was within its rights to extend the liquidation deadlines, because CBP isn’t restricted to seeking more information only from the investigated companies.

President Obama has nominated two people to serve on the Court of Federal Claims. Their nominations now head to the Senate for approval.

The Court of International Trade sustained CBP’s Harmonized Tariff Schedule classification of plaintiff Link Snacks’ beef jerky, ruling that the product was correctly classified in the HTS subheading for cured beef. Link Snacks had argued that beef jerky is defined by the drying process used in its manufacture, not the curing process. The court was sympathetic to Link Snacks’ argument, but in the end found that it could not go against the plain meaning of the terms in the HTS.

Prompter People and Flolight, two respondents in the International Trade Commission’s Section 337 investigation of LED photograpgic lighting devices (337-TA-804), appealed the ITC’s final determinations on remedy and bond March 19, according to a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit docketing notice. The ITC issued a general exclusion order in January, blocking imports of covered products that infringe patents held by Litepanels (see 11090117). The ITC also set bond at 43 percent during the 60-day Presidential review period.

The Court of International Trade stayed yet another court proceeding involving zeroing, pending a ruling on the Union Steel case by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The stayed proceeding, Dongbu v. U.S., awaits a remand order from CIT on how to implement the appeals court’s 2011 ruling, which marked the first time a court asked the International Trade Administration for an explanation of its policy to use zeroing in administrative reviews but not investigations. At issue is the scope of the remand, as well as whether Dongbu can continue to participate in the proceeding, given that it didn’t participate in the appeal to CAFC. CIT declined to decide either issue, because the appeals court’s ruling in Union Steel could control the outcome of this case.

Richard Taranto was sworn in as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit March 15. Taranto was first nominated by President Obama in November 2011, then renominated in January 2013 and confirmed by the Senate March 11 (see 13031230). Taranto has practiced at the firm Farr & Taranto since 1989.

The U.S. government is appealing a Court of International Trade ruling on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule classification of GRK Canada’s screws, according to a March 15 docketing notice. In January, the court found in favor of GRK Canada’s proposed classification as “self-tapping screws,” dutiable at 6.2 percent (see 13011528). CBP had originally classified them as “other wood screws,” dutiable at 12.5 percent. According to CIT, the screws were both self-tapping screws and wood screws, but should be classified as self-tapping screws under General Rule 3(c) as the subheading occurring last in numerical order.

The Court of International Trade dismissed Koyo Corp.’s bid for funds under the Continued Dumping and Subsidization Offset Act (also known as the Byrd Amendment) for duties collected pursuant to various antidumping duty orders on tapered roller bearings. Koyo, a domestic tapered roller bearing manufacturer, brought constitutional arguments that were identical to those raised in Pat Huval v. U.S. (see 12031204). Just as in Pat Huval, the court dismissed all of Koyo’s claims as foreclosed by precedent.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the 2010 conviction of Tony Nelson, a former member of the Jacksonville Port Authority’s board, for bribery, mail fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy resulting from his advocacy for the port’s use of a particular dredging contractor’s services. According to the indictment, Nelson was paid as a lobbyist for the contractor in return for his advocacy, but didn’t disclose the payments. A jury convicted Nelson despite the fact that he never voted on board matters concerning the contractor.

The Court of International Trade sustained a challenge to the countervailing duty investigation of kitchen appliance shelving and racks from China (C-570-942), again affirming the constitutionality of the 2012 law allowing application of CV duties to non-market economies. Beyond the constitutional questions raised by plaintiffs, the court also ruled in favor of the International Trade Administration’s affirmative subsidy determinations on government provision of cheap inputs (for less than adequate remuneration, or LTAR) through companies both majority- and minority-owned by the Chinese government, as well as a private trading company.