The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative often found itself weighing the possible harm to U.S. consumers from the lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariffs against the need to give the duties enough teeth to curb China’s allegedly unfair trade practices, the agency said in its 90-page “remand determination,” filed Aug. 1 at the Court of International Trade (In Re Section 301 Cases, CIT #21-00052). Submitting its bid to ease the court's concerns over modifications made to the third and fourth tariff waves, USTR provided its justifications for removing various goods from the tariff lists ranging from critical minerals to seafood products.

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CBP, in closely linked cases, determined that there is substantial evidence that importers Starille, Nutrawave and Newtrend USA evaded antidumping and countervailing duty orders on glycine from China (EAPA Consolidated Case No. 7647), while there was a lack of substantial evidence that the same importers evaded an AD order on glycine from Thailand (EAPA Consolidated Case No. 7663).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in an Aug. 8 opinion held that tradeable tax credits fall within the regulatory definition of a "price adjustment," meaning the Commerce Department properly deducted the credits from respondent LDC Argentina's export price. Judges Kimberly Moore, Richard Taranto and Todd Hughes also ruled that Commerce's use of an international market price for soybeans in its constructed value calculation for biodiesel does not count as a double remedy, even though the U.S. imposed countervailing duties on Argentine soybeans.

DOJ asked the Court of International Trade in an Aug. 1 motion on behalf of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative for permission to correct the administrative record in the Section 301 litigation to include 136 pages of documents not previously submitted in the cases. Virtually all the documents previously were in the public domain, and they include mostly news releases and Federal Register notices announcing USTR actions connected with the imposition of the four rounds of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports dating to 2018.

The Court of International Trade in an Aug. 1 order granted a joint motion for stipulated judgment, granting refunds to importer Transpacific Steel for Section 232 steel and aluminum duties paid in error. The importer was originally granted three exclusions with the wrong Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading listed in them. After having its resubmitted exclusion requests denied, Transpacific took to the trade court to seek the exclusions and refunds for the Section 232 duties paid. It received just that following a settlement with the U.S. (Transpacific Steel v. United States, CIT #21-00362).

Ellwood City Forge Company is attempting to relitigate a case without offering anything new through its bid for reconsideration at the Court of International Trade, defendent-intervenor Metalcam said in a July 29 opposition brief (Ellwood City Forge Company, et al. v. United States, CIT #21-00073).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a July 29 judgment dismissed ship reseller Crocus Investments's claim against Marine Transport Logistics' high storage fees. The court ruled that the Federal Maritime Commission appropriately changed its interpretation of 46 U.S.C. Section 41102(c), which bars certain ocean transportation industry members for failing to enforce reasonable regulations relating to storing property. The new interpretation says that a party is only liable for violations of this rule occurring on a continued basis and not a one-off mishap (Crocus Investments v. Federal Maritime Commission, D.C. Cir. #21-1199).

Angela Ellard, a deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization, called on WTO member governments to deposit instruments of acceptance with the multilateral trade organization to help the recently negotiated fishery subsidies agreement enter into force. Speaking at a virtual Washington International Trade Association event July 28, Ellard laid out the path ahead for the full adoption of the fisheries agreement while reflecting on steps the WTO looks to take on helping countries fully implement the obligations tied into the agreement. The DDG also spoke of a fund provided for in the agreement which will help less developed countries with the notification and transparency elements of the deal.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a July 28 opinion held that CBP timely liquidated or reliquidated 10 entries of wooden bedroom furniture. The court ruled that the first unambiguous indication that an injunction against liquidation had ended came from liquidation instructions from the Commerce Department that were sent within the six months prior to liquidation, making the liquidation of the entries timely.