World Trade Organization members on Jan. 15 agreed that as the basis for talks in the run-up to the 13th Ministerial Conference, they would use the most recent draft text on addressing subsidies promoting overcapacity and overfishing, the WTO announced. Iceland's Einar Gunnarsson, chair of the fisheries subsidies talks, said members over the next four weeks will use the draft to finalize a "clean" text for MC13, which will be held Feb. 26-29 in the United Arab Emirates. The WTO said members will hold meetings from Jan. 15 to Feb. 9 to "go through the whole text." This period is being dubbed "Fish Month" at the WTO.
Exporter Datong Juqiang Activated Carbon Co. and its U.S. importer, Datong Juqiang Activated Carbon USA, dismissed their case challenging the Commerce Department's final results of the 2021-22 review of the antidumping duty order on activated carbon from China. Counsel for Juqiang didn't respond to a request for comment. Exporter Carbon Activated Tianjin Co. also dismissed its lawsuit against the same AD review (see 2401100018) (Datong Juqiang Activated Carbon Co. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00267).
Importer Bral Corp. and the U.S. settled a customs case on the company's entries of allegedly defective plywood, according to a Jan. 16 stipulation of dismissal, but didn't make the settlement public. The company declined to comment on the terms of the settlement (Bral Corp. v. United States, CIT # 20-00154).
The government hasn't given a "compelling justification" for why it used "secret evidence" to add Ninestar Corp. to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, Ninestar argued Jan. 15 (Ninestar Corp. v. United States, CIT # 23-00182).
The Court of International Trade upheld the Commerce Department's decision to accept antidumping duty respondent Oman Fasteners' supplemental questionnaire response after initially rejecting it for being submitted 16 minutes late. Judge M. Miller Baker, in a Jan. 5 opinion made public Jan. 16, nodded to his prior opinion in the case, in which he held that the rejection of the submission was "the very definition of abuse of discretion" (see 2307170036). The result was a zero percent dumping margin for the exporter.
Customs attorney and former CBP official Sandra Bell previously with DLA Piper, joined Rimon PC as a partner, she announced on LinkedIn. Bell advises clients on regulations related to customs tariffs and import issues.
The following lawsuit was recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
Steel nail importer Hilti dismissed its case at the Court of International Trade following the Supreme Court's decision not to review a case on President Donald Trump's expansion of Section 232 duties onto steel and aluminum "derivative" products. The high court's decision marked the sixth time the court has declined to address whether Trump legally expanded the duties beyond procedural deadlines (see 2401080037). Hilti stayed its case pending resolution of the case rejected by the Supreme Court (Hilti, Inc. v. United States, CIT # 21-00216).
The U.S. argued that a customs suit is ready for a decision on whether the Cozy -- a textile marketed as a "wearable blanket" -- is a pullover or a blanket. Filing a brief in support of its motion for summary judgment, the government said importer Cozy Comfort's issues are not with the facts but with the U.S. interpretation of the terms "pullover" and "similar articles" under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 6110 (Cozy Comfort Co. v. United States, CIT # 22-00173).
The U.S. and antidumping duty petitioner Wind Tower Trade Coalition defended the Commerce Department's decision to weight average, or "smooth," respondent Marmen's steel plate costs in the AD investigation on utility scale wind towers from Canada (Marmen v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1877).