The Court of International Trade sustained CBP's finding that Dominican exporter Kingtom Aluminio didn't evade antidumping and countervailing duty orders on aluminum extrusions from China. In a June 13 decision made public July 8, Judge Richard Eaton said Kingtom responded to all U.S. requests for information during an Enforce and Protect Act investigation, precluding the use of adverse facts available. He also said the court can't ignore "the total lack of any record evidence of any imports by Kingtom into the Dominican Republic" of aluminum extrusions made in China.
Jacob Kopnick
Jacob Kopnick, Associate Editor, is a reporter for Trade Law Daily and its sister publications Export Compliance Daily and International Trade Today. He joined the Warren Communications News team in early 2021 covering a wide range of topics including trade-related court cases and export issues in Europe and Asia. Jacob's background is in trade policy, having spent time with both CSIS and USTR researching international trade and its complexities. Jacob is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Public Policy.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on July 5 rejected an order by the Federal Maritime Commission that said ocean carrier Evergreen Shipping Agency (America) Corp.'s detention charges collected from trucking company TCW were "unjust and unreasonable." FMC failed to meaningfully respond to Evergreen's arguments, the court said, and the responses the commission did offer were "implausible" (Evergreen Shipping Agency (America) Corp. v. Federal Maritime Commission, D.C. Cir. # 23-1052).
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
Importer Performance Additives will appeal a May Court of International Trade decision finding that a duty drawback claim becomes deemed liquidated after one year if the underlying import entries are also liquidated and final, with finality defined as the end of the 180-day window in which to file a protest with CBP (see 2405310073). Judge Jane Restani said that as a result one of Performance Additives' drawback claims was deemed liquidated but another of its claims wasn't, since its entries weren't liquidated and final within one year of the claim being made. The importer will take the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Performance Additives v. United States, CIT # 22-00044).
The U.S. and exporters led by Risen Energy Co. agreed July 8 to dismiss a case on the 2017 review of the countervailing duty order on solar cells from China (Risen Energy Co. v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 24-1524). The government appealed the Court of International Trade decision siding with Risen on the agency's land benchmark calculation and use of adverse facts available pertaining to China's Export Buyer's Credit Program (see 2312200026) (Risen Energy Co. v. U.S., CIT Consol. # 20-03912).
The World Trade Organization released its latest Trade Monitoring Update July 8, showing that WTO members have introduced more trade-facilitating measures than trade-restricting ones on goods from mid-October to mid-May. The update also shows a "rapid increase in industrial policy subsidies," especially in areas related to climate change and national security, the WTO said.
The U.S. told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit July 8 that its decision not to appear in an antidumping and countervailing duty scope case "has no effect on the Court's standard of review." Filing a supplemental brief as an amicus at the invitation of the court, the government said its decision not to join the appeal "merely reflects its reasoned consideration not to pursue the appellate process" (Worldwide Door Components v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 23-1532) (Columbia Aluminum Products v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 23-1534).
No lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade.
DOJ reached a settlement in a civil forfeiture case against a Los Angeles mansion belonging to a former Armenian government official's family. The mansion will be forfeited to the U.S., which will then sell the property, retaining 85% of the proceeds. The remaining funds will be sent to the sons of the former official, Gagik Khachatryan, and a corporation that the sons own. The forfeiture is part of the resolution of a foreign corruption scheme prosecuted by DOJ.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said that it will "proceed as scheduled" amid "extensive street closures and traffic restrictions near the National Courts Building" the week of July 8. Access to the courthouse will be available from only H Street NW, the court said, encouraging counsel to budget additional travel time. Numerous Washington streets are seeing closures and/or restrictions this week due to the NATO Summit in the city.