The Court of International Trade in a June 1 opinion made public June 9 dismissed a case seeking Section 232 steel and aluminum tariff exclusions brought by exporter Borusan Mannesmann and importer Gulf Coast Express Pipeline. Judge Timothy Reif said that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction since the subject entries are unliquidated. The court ruled that the plaintiffs failed to show that CBP's decision not to issue refunds before liquidation constitutes a protestable decision.
Court of International Trade
The United States Court of International Trade is a federal court which has national jurisdiction over civil actions regarding the customs and international trade laws of the United States. The Court was established under Article III of the Constitution by the Customs Courts Act of 1980. The Court consists of nine judges appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate and is located in New York City. The Court has jurisdiction throughout the United States and has exclusive jurisdictional authority to decide civil action pertaining to international trade against the United States or entities representing the United States.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a June 9 opinion dismissed a broad challenge to President Donald Trump's Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs. The plaintiffs, led by USP Holdings, argued that the Commerce Department report preceding presidential action violated the law since it failed to outline an imminent threat to the domestic industry as required by the statute and was unsupported by substantial evidence. A three-judge panel at the court ruled against these arguments, holding that there is no "imminence requirement" in the statute and that the threat determination is not reviewable under the "arbitrary and capricious" standard since the secretary's action "is only reviewable for compliance with the statute."
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of May 30 - June 5:
The Court of International Trade in a June 6 opinion dismissed test taker Byungmin Chae's lawsuit contesting five questions on the customs broker license exam. Judge Timothy Reif said CBP was right to dismiss Chae's appeal of four of the questions but that the agency wrongly denied the test taker's appeal for the fifth question. The reversal of one question wasn't enough to for a passing grade for Chae, who was two questions shy of the 75% threshold needed to pass the test.
The Commerce Department is amending antidumping duty cash deposit rates for some exporters subject to AD duties on passenger vehicle and light truck tires from China (C-570-016), it said in a notice implementing a recent Court of International Trade decision that invalidated rates the agency set in the final results of an administrative review it issued in 2018 (see 1803150018). Commerce is lowering cash deposit rates for 42 companies as a result of the decision, according to the notice released June 2. Changes are applicable to entries on or after May 29, as follows:
The Commerce Department is amending countervailing duty cash deposit rates for some exporters subject to CV duties on crystalline silicon solar cells from China (C-570-980), it said in a notice implementing a recent Court of International Trade decision that invalidated rates the agency set in the final results of an administrative review it issued in 2019 (see 1908270017 and 1912120048). Commerce is lowering cash deposit rates for four companies that have not received new CV duty cash deposit rates in subsequent reviews as a result of the decision, according to the notice released June 2. Changes are applicable to entries on or after May 29, 2022, as follows:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of May 16-22 and 23-29:
The Court of International Trade ruled in a May 20 opinion that sales from a Canadian warehouse to U.S. customers are "sales for export to the U.S." rather than "domestic sales," in a May 20 slip opinion by Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves. The opinion granted a Nov. 19 motion for summary judgment by DOJ (see 2111220057) that argued plaintiff Midwest-CBK's sales were exports to the U.S. at the time of sale (Midwest-CBK, LLC v. United States, CIT Consol. #17-00154).
The Court of International Trade dismissed two cases brought by steel importer Voestalpine USA and steel purchaser Bilstein Cold Rolled Steel seeking to retroactively apply a Section 232 steel and aluminum tariff exclusion that was originally issued with a clerical error. Judge Mark Barnett said that the plaintiffs did not seek any relief that the court could grant since the entries eligible for the exclusion had already been liquidated, and the court does not have the power to order their reliquidation.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of May 9-15: