The U.S. defended its decision to find that Vietnamese currency undervaluation is de facto specific to the traded goods sector at the Court of International Trade. Responding to arguments from exporter Kumho Tire (Vietnam) Co., the government said the exporter failed to undermine Commerce's conclusion that the traded goods sector was the "predominant user of the subsidy" (Kumho Tire (Vietnam) Co. v. United States, CIT Consol. # 21-00397).
Judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit last week questioned the Commerce Department's use of the Cohen's d test in identifying "masked" dumping in the lead case on the use of the test, which returned to the appellate court after its initial remand in 2023. Judges Alan Lourie, William Bryson and Leonard Stark asked counsel for exporter SeAH Steel Corp. if Commerce has a "lot of discretion" in how it uses the test, and they asked the government's attorney if the agency has discretion to use the test even if it's statistically unsound (Stupp Corp. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1663).
The Commerce Department again failed to support its inclusion of marble composite tile made by Elysium Tiles within the scope of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on ceramic tile from China, the Court of International Trade held on March 11. Judge Jane Restani remanded Commerce's scope ruling for a second time, finding that the agency's focus on the tile's decorative features is irrelevant, and that Commerce engaged in a too-simple discussion on the additional processing the tile went through.
Guatemala formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on March 10, bringing the number of countries that have accepted the deal to 92. The WTO needs 19 more countries to accept to get to two-thirds of the membership, the threshold for the agreement to take effect.
The following lawsuit was recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
CBP and importer Motivation Design settled a customs case on pet carriers, with the government agreeing to go with the importer's preferred tariff classification for a lower duty rate. Filing a stipulated judgment at the Court of International Trade, the parties agreed that CBP will classify the pet carriers under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 6307.90.98, dutiable at 7%, as "other textile articles," instead of subheading 4202.92.90, dutiable at 17.6%, as a case with outer surface of textile materials. CBP classified the goods under subheading 4202.92.90 at entry (Motivation Design v. United States, CIT # 15-00212).
The Court of International Trade should not give importer Under the Weather leave to amend its complaint to add a claim in its customs suit on the tariff treatment of its see-through pop-up tent "pods," the U.S. said in a brief filed last week. The government said the proposed amendment to Under the Weather's complaint is "untimely," since it's "now years after" the importer "could have presented its claim to Customs," adding that the claim also fails to state a valid argument (Under the Weather v. United States, CIT # 21-00211).
The Commerce Department properly excluded various mattress models made by exporter PT Ecos Jaya Indonesia from the antidumping duty order on mattresses from Indonesia for being either "multifunctional furniture" or "mattress toppers," the Court of International Trade held on March 7. However, Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves said five models of PT Ecos' mattresses didn't clearly qualify for the mattress topper exclusion, since the evidence didn't sufficiently establish that they were used on top of mattresses.
President Donald Trump will likely turn to Section 301 to enact his plans for "reciprocal" tariffs, various trade lawyers told Trade Law Daily. Following the president's announcement of his reciprocal tariff plan, which will purportedly tackle "non-reciprocal trading arrangements" with many of the U.S.'s trading partners starting April 2, speculation ensued as to the precise scope of the tariffs and their legal bases.
North Macedonia formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on Feb. 28, bringing the number of countries that have accepted the deal to 91. The WTO needs 20 more countries to accept to get to two-thirds of the membership, the threshold for the agreement to take effect.