Court of International Trade

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of March 15-21:

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Judge Jimmie Reyna asked probing questions on the ability of the president to implement or alter Section 232 national security tariffs with few impediments, during oral argument on March 18. The judge questioned Department of Justice counsel Tara Hogan about the government's defense of tariff alterations President Donald Trump made in 2018 and said that the way the government interpreted the law on tariff modifications would not be applicable in his line of business.

Lawyers for the roughly 3,700 Section 301 complaints inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade reached consensus on picking the first-filed HMTX Industries-Jasco Products action as the sole sample case in the massive litigation and on seating 15 among their ranks for the plaintiffs’ steering committee, HMTX-Jasco counsel Akin Gump said in the lawyers’ “coordinated proposal” March 19. Though plaintiffs “cannot guarantee 100% agreement on every issue on behalf of every single counsel,” they are “not aware of any objection to this proposal after repeated consultations and opportunities for review,” it said.

Court of International Trade Chief Judge Timothy Stanceu will assume senior status at the court April 5, according to the U.S. Courts website. A 2003 President George W. Bush appointee, Stanceu has held numerous government positions, including as deputy director of the Treasury Department's Office of Trade and Tariff Affairs. Judge Mark Barnett, the longest-serving active judge on the court, is expected by some to take over as chief judge (see 2102050008).

All cedar shakes and shingles are exempt from antidumping and countervailing duties on softwood lumber from Canada (A-122-857/C-122-858), not just certain categories, the Commerce Department said in a March 12 scope ruling. Despite circumvention concerns from domestic lumber producers, Commerce found no justification to apply the court-ordered exemption to some high-grade cedar shakes and shingles but not to lower grade products.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of March 8-14:

The U.S. Court of International Trade dismissed a challenge to the Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs' exclusion process, finding that the importer-specific exclusion process is constitutional. In the case, steel importer Thyssenkrupp Materials and its subsidiaries said that by excluding individual importers from the tariffs, the process violated the Constitution's uniformity clause by discriminating against steel and aluminum importers based on geography (see 2004230053). Thyssenkrupp also held that the exclusion process was inconsistent with presidential proclamations dictating how the exclusions should be conducted. Judges Claire Kelly, Gary Katzmann and Jane Restani in their March 10 opinion were unconvinced of both arguments and granted the government defense's motion to dismiss the case.

The Department of Justice declined to submit additional arguments in defense of President Donald Trump's decision to expand Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs to steel derivatives beyond its original argument in front of the Court of International Trade, guaranteeing that the court will overturn the steel derivatives tariffs but allowing for an appeal.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of March 1-7:

The Court of International Trade's recent decision denying first sale valuation for cookware importer Meyer Corp. likely won't lead to the end of first sale treatment for goods originating from non-market economies, said customs lawyers in interviews. Despite broader questions raised by CIT Senior Judge Thomas Aquilino, it's unlikely that courts will do away with first sale for non-market countries entirely, but the decision does highlight the burden of demonstrating eligibility for first sale, lawyers said.