More than 3,500 Section 301 complaints have inundated the U.S. Court of International Trade challenging the lawfulness of the lists 3 and 4A tariffs on Chinese imports, “and there’s likely more to come,” trade lawyer John Brew of Crowell & Moring told a Sports and Fitness Industry Association webinar Jan. 26.

Russian steel company NLMK filed a lawsuit against U.S. Steel alleging the Pittsburgh-based company misled the Department of Commerce when it objected to the Section 232 exclusion requests filed by NLMK. The company filed the complaint in a Pennsylvania state court Jan. 22 and is seeking more than $100 million in damages for unfair competition. NLMK previously reached a settlement with the government over what it said was improperly denied exclusion requests (see 2010200029).

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Jan. 19-22 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

FDA is setting a countrywide import alert on all alcohol-based hand sanitizers from Mexico that will allow the agency to stop and detain shipments at the border while it reviews their safety, FDA said by email Jan. 26. Prompted by a sharp increase in hand sanitizers from Mexico that purport to contain ethanol but tested positive for methanol contamination, Import Alert 62-08 is the first one issued countrywide on any category of drug product, FDA said.

At her confirmation hearing in the Senate, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, President Joe Biden's nominee for commerce secretary, was asked about rolling back Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, and ending Section 201 tariffs on solar panels, which will increase to 18% on Feb. 7 if no action is taken (see 2010130028) and if a court doesn't stop it (see 2012300045).

The Commerce Department will put new aluminum import licensing regulations on hold and seek more comments on the program, it said in a notice released Jan. 25. “This delay in effective date is necessary to allow the incoming Administration time to review the Final Rule and consider any additional comments before implementation,” Commerce said. Comments on the final rule are now due Feb. 26. “Parties are invited to comment on all aspects of the Final Rule and” the Aluminum Import Monitoring and Analysis System, it said.

Trade groups representing intellectual property rights holders are telling the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that secondary trademark infringement liability has not been effective in getting e-commerce platforms to police themselves, and several said Congress needs to define the parameters of this doctrine by passing a law.

A panel at the World Trade Organization ruled that the Commerce Department was wrong to resort to “facts available” calculations of subsidies or cost of production in many cases, either ignoring appropriately submitted information that was verifiable, not accepting information that came in past a deadline but was still timely, or not being clear in its requests to firms.

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Jan. 11-15 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

Disposable medical face masks assembled in Canada from components made in India, the U.S. and China are eligible for USCMA tariff treatment, CBP said in a ruling issued Dec. 18, 2020. While some components that determine the classification of the masks originate in India, those components undergo the relevant USCMA tariff shift rule, CBP said in HQ H315375.