International trade attorney Chris Clark is departing Squire Patton for DLA Piper, he confirmed with Trade Law Daily. Clark has worked as an associate at Squire Patton since 2018 and will join DLA Piper as an associate.
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 EU officially filed dispute consultation requests at the World Trade Organization on Sept. 25 regarding China's decision to open an investigation on certain dairy products from the EU. The European Commission announced the move earlier this week, saying the probe marks a pattern of China opening trade defense measures "based on questionable allegations and insufficient evidence" (see 2409230014).
Importer Omni Distributors on Sept. 24 voluntarily dismissed its customs case at the Court of International Trade on the classification of its hand sanitizer imports. Omni Distributors said the goods, classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 3824.99.9297, should qualify for Section 301 exclusions under secondary subheading 9903.88.45. Counsel for the importer declined to comment (Omni Distributors v. United States, CIT # 22-00250).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Sept. 24 recaptioned an appeal of an antidumping duty case after importer Worldwide Distribution said it no longer wishes to take part in the case, given that it failed to file a notice of appeal (see 2409160010). As a result, the court lifted the stay in the case and gave exporter Sahamitr Pressure Container 60 days to file its opening brief. Sahamitr originally brought suit to challenge the 2019-20 review of the AD order on steel propane cylinders from Thailand. The Court of International Trade said Sahamitr failed to undermine Commerce's finding that the company's monthly-based calculation of its sales costs were distortive (see 2405020029) (Sahamitr Pressure Container v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 24-2043).
The U.S. on Sept. 24 moved to dismiss mattress importer Pay Less Here's suit on the International Trade Commission's critical circumstances finding on mattresses from Burma, saying the company failed to file an entry of appearance in the proceeding. The government said that, as a result of this failure, the company isn't an "interested party" that can challenge the determination at the Court of International Trade (Pay Less Here v. U.S., CIT # 24-00152).
The U.S. and importer Cozy Comfort traded briefs at the Court of International Trade seeking to discredit the other side's evidence ahead of a bench trial on the classification of the importer's wearable blanket, called The Comfy (Cozy Comfort Company v. United States, CIT # 22-00173).
Indonesia launched a safeguard investigation on Sept. 18 covering tarpaulins made from plastics and synthetic fibers, the World Trade Organization announced. The Indonesian Safeguards Committee told WTO about the investigation on Sept. 23, and said interested parties should submit written comments to the safeguards committee within 15 days from the start of the proceeding.
The European Commission will begin registering all imports of goods under antidumping or countervailing duty investigations, allowing for retroactive collection of AD/CVD if certain conditions are met, it announced Sept. 24. Prior to the move, imports were typically registered only after a "justified" request from the EU industry.
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
Importer Acquisition 362, doing business as Strategic Import Supply, filed separate notices of dismissal in two cases at the Court of International Trade. In both cases, the importer said CBP refused to explain why it denied a protest on its vehicle parts after the agency assessed antidumping duties 78.55% higher than it had been assigned in a past AD review (see 2407240019 and 2408090021). The cases both said CBP failed to provide adequate reasoning for denying the protests. In one, the company said the protest denial improperly centered on a message from the Commerce Department, which it wasn't given access to. Counsel for the importer didn't immediately respond to request for comment (Acquisition 362, LLC dba Strategic Import Supply, LLC v. U.S., CIT #s 24-00124, -00149).