The COVID-19 pandemic's “unprecedented complications” are making it impossible for CBP to be served summonses and complaints by certified or registered mail from many of the thousands of plaintiffs in the Section 301 litigation at the U.S. Court of International Trade, the Department of Justice said Dec. 9 in a motion to adopt alternative procedures for service. Staff in CBP’s chief counsel’s office “have been working under maximum telework conditions,” and some mail “has been returned to the sender as undeliverable,” it said. To resolve the issue, DOJ’s international trade field office “agrees to accept service of these documents on behalf of CBP,” it said. The motion “concerns overall case management of an unusually large volume of cases,” it said. DOJ included a list of 3,659 complaints, covering 193 pages, filed through Dec. 8. All the complaints seek to get the lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariff rulemakings vacated and the duties refunded.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 30 - Dec. 6:

Lawyers for importers that have filed suit under the extensive ongoing Section 301 litigation have established an “informal” steering committee to manage the case, law firm Neville Peterson said in a Dec. 1 blog post, adding that the committee “confers with some regularity.” Most observers expect the U.S. Court of International Trade will pick the first-filed Section 301 complaint from HMTX Industries and Jasco Production as the lead case, and stay the roughly 3,700 other actions while HMTX is litigated, the law firm said.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 23-29:

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 16-22:

Stephen Vaden of Tennessee was confirmed to be a judge on the Court of International Trade by the Senate Nov. 18, on a 49-43 vote. He previously served as general counsel at the Department of Agriculture.

Complaint filings at the Court of International Trade seeking to have the Section 301 lists 3 and 4A tariff rulemakings vacated and the duties refunded (see 2009210025) slowed to a trickle in November, with fewer than 10 filed within the last two weeks. Of the roughly 3,700 complaints filed since Sept. 10, about 140 have been filed since Sept. 24. That’s the two-year anniversary date of List 3 taking effect and was within the statute of limitations that many lawyers cited under court rules to establish the timeliness of their actions. A plaintiff must file an action within two years “after the cause of action accrues,” court rules say. Lawyers in the subsequent actions will try to establish that the clock started when their importer clients first paid the tariffs.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 9-15:

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 2-8:

CBP has been swamped with hundreds of thousands of protests related to Section 301 litigation on lists 3 and 4A China tariffs, as importers seek to preserve their rights to refunds if the lawsuits are successful, Robert Silverman of Grunfeld Desiderio said Nov. 9. Negotiations are ongoing with the Department of Justice to untether claims from liquidation dates, which would free importers from potentially having to file the protests to protect their rights, Silverman said, speaking at the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade’s virtual Northeast Cargo Symposium. “We’re trying to get DOJ to agree that liquidation is irrelevant. If they do, then we can stop filing these silly protests,” he said.