On February 28, 2012, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum on whether corporations can be sued in U.S. courts for violations of human rights committed abroad under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) (passed in 1789). The Justices were expected to issue their ruling before the conclusion of the Supreme Court's current session in June 2012. However, on March 5, 2012, the Supreme Court ordered the case for reargument in its next term.

The Justice Department has announced that AU Optronics Corporation, the largest Taiwanese thin-film transistor-liquid crystal display panels (TFT-LCD) producer and seller, its U.S.-based subsidiary, and certain executives have been found guilty for participating in a LCD price-fixing conspiracy. The jury found that the ill-gotten gain to the conspirators as a result of the fixed sales in the U.S. was at least $500 million. The maximum fine for the corporations is $1 billion.

In a consolidation of multiple cases, eight domestic producers of crawfish tail meat, together with tapered roller bearings producer Koyo Corporation of U.S.A and antifriction bearings producer SKF USA, Inc., challenged the constitutionality of the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (CDSOA, or Byrd Amendment), and the administration of that statute by the International Trade Commission and Customs and Border Protection. Because they had not supported the petitions leading to the AD orders on crawfish tail meat or antifriction bearings, the companies were not included on the ITC’s lists of “affected domestic producers” (ADPs). Among other claims, they argued that the petition support requirement violated their First Amendment free speech, Fifth Amendment equal protection, and Fifth Amendment due process rights.

The Court of International Trade dismissed a claim by NSK Corporation, the U.S. affiliate of a global ball bearings manufacturer based in Japan, challenged the constitutionality of the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (CDSOA or Byrd Amendment). NSK Corp. claimed that it was unlawfully denied affected domestic producer (ADP) status, which would have qualified it to receive distributions for fiscal years 2005-2007. .

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on March 13, 2012 that Charles Wright, former president of ESM Group Inc., a specialty metal powder supplier, has pleaded guilty to smuggling magnesium powder into the U.S. and avoiding a 305.56% antidumping duty for such merchandise from China.

The Justice Department announced on March 14, 2012 that BizJet International Sales and Support Inc., a provider of aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services based in Tulsa, OK, has agreed to pay an $11.8 million criminal penalty to resolve charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for bribing government officials in Latin America to secure contracts to perform aircraft MRO services for government agencies.

The Court of International Trade upheld the International Trade Administration’s choice of a surrogate value for nitric acid of 35.08 Indian rupees per kilogram, in a remand following the December 2007 - November 2008 AD administrative review of carbazole violet pigment 23 from China. The court had previously ordered the agency to explain its use of a value 12 times higher than what the domestic petitioners proposed, based on a source which the ITA itself had rejected in a prior review because it contained aberrational high values.

Domestic producer Mid-Continent Nail Corporation challenged a ruling by the International Trade Administration excluding nails imported in home tool kits from the scope of the August 1, 2008 AD order on certain steel nails from China. The Court of International Trade, finding that the ITA had applied contradictory approaches in cases where merchandise covered by AD orders is imported in kits with non-covered items, ruled that "[s]uch inconsistency in agency procedure is not permitted," and instructed the ITA to "identify a test it will employ consistently," with a legal justification.

The Justice Department announced on March 13, 2012 that Jean Rene Duperval, a former director of international relations for Telecommunications D’Haiti S.A.M. (Haiti Teleco), a Haitian state-owned telecommunications company, has been convicted for his role in a scheme to launder bribes paid to him by two Miami-based telecommunications companies in violation of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

The Court of International Trade has ruled that the proper classification of various imported weather measurement devices and clocks is made according to their essential character. In consideration of the devices' primary functionality and marketing, the CIT ruled that those with predominantly weather-related features are properly classified as other thermometers under heading 9025 or other meteorological instruments under 9015. The CIT found those devices with predominantly clock-related features are other clocks under 9105.