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

An importer of Indian citric acid subjected to antidumping and countervailing duties on China must challenge the tariffs by way of a protest or a scope ruling, and can’t directly file a lawsuit alleging CBP did not follow the proper procedures in determining dutiability, the Court of International Trade said in a March 16 decision dismissing TR International’s lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds.

The Court of International Trade is expanding its prohibition on entry into the courthouse to anyone who has traveled in 25 additional member states of the European Union in the past two weeks, it said in an updated message on its website. While the policy, put in place in response to the coronavirus pandemic (see 2003110056), had previously applied to travelers to Italy, as well as China, Iran and South Korea, it now also applies to all members of the EU’s Schengen Area, including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The prohibition on entry into the courthouse also applies to anyone who resides or has had close contact with someone who has traveled to one of these areas within the last 14 days, as well as anyone who has been asked to self-quarantine by any hospital or health agency, or has been diagnosed with, or has had contact with, anyone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19, the novel coronavirus at the heart of the pandemic.

The Court of International Trade will hear the recent series of lawsuits challenging Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum derivatives as a three-judge panel, according to multiple people familiar with the cases. Though the court’s case management system was down as of press time for an IT upgrade, the panel will apparently decide the similar cases filed in recent weeks by PrimeSource, Oman Fasteners, Huttig, Astrotech, Trinity, New Supplies, Aslanbas, J. Conrad, Metropolitan Staple, and 10 companies including SouthernCarlson (see 2003030048).

The Court of International Trade remains open during the ongoing coronavirus disease pandemic, but some that have been potentially exposed to COVID-19 will be denied permission to enter the courthouse, CIT said in an update on its website. “[I]f you have traveled to China, Italy, Iran, or South Korea within the last 14 days; reside or have had close contact with someone who has traveled to one of the above areas within the last 14 days; have been asked to self-quarantine by any hospital or health agency; or have been diagnosed with, or have had contact with, anyone who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, you must inform the Court Security Officers upon entering the courthouse and will be denied permission to enter,” CIT said. “If you are so affected and are an attorney scheduled to appear before the Court in the near future, you must notify the court so that appropriate safeguard measures can be taken. You may appear via teleconference or video-conference with the approval of the presiding Judge,” the trade court said. “These restrictions will remain in place until further notice.”

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

An importer may protest CBP’s exclusion of its redesigned product for patent infringement under a Section 337 exclusion order, the Court of International Trade said in a March 4 decision. The government argued that CBP’s exclusion of Wirtgen road milling machines was not protestable because CBP was simply enforcing the International Trade Commission’s exclusion order, and that the decision should have instead been raised with the ITC and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. But CIT, noting that the ITC in the underlying Section 337 investigation specifically declined to address the redesigned products, found that CBP acted on its own authority to exclude the road milling machines, and as a result its decision could be protested. The trade court denied the government’s motion to dismiss the case as outside its jurisdiction.

Clarification: Jeffrey Neely of Husch Blackwell is the lead attorney for J. Conrad and Metropolitan Staple in their respective lawsuits challenging Section 232 tariffs on “derivatives” (see 2003030048).

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 24 - March 1:

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 17-23: