The Commerce Department swapped its use of partial adverse facts available for partial neutral facts available for antidumping duty respondent Shanghai Tainai Bearing Co. after admitting that it isn't able to determine whether Tainai has "sufficient control over its suppliers to induce their cooperation" (Shanghai Tainai Bearing Co. v. United States, CIT # 22-00038).
Solar panel exporters, led by the Solar Energy Industries Association, urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to rehear their case on President Donald Trump's decision to revoke a Section 201 tariff exclusion on bifacial solar panels (Solar Energy Industries Association v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 22-1392).
World Trade Organization members will vote on the accession of Timor-Leste to the global trade body during the Feb. 26-29 Ministerial Conference, the WTO announced. Talks pertaining to Timor-Leste's accession wrapped up in just over seven years, which is a record for the accession of a least-developed country, the WTO said.
The Federal Maritime Commission opened a proceeding against attorney Marcus Nussbaum pertaining to alleged professional misconduct, in which Nussbaum will have a chance to show cause why he should not be hit with a penalty or suspension of his ability to practice before the comission.
The following lawsuits were filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
Home Depot on Jan. 10 dropped its lawsuit in the Court of International Trade challenging the president's authority to expand Section 232 national security tariffs beyond procedural deadlines. The U.S. Supreme Court this week denied a petition for writ of certiorari from steel nail maker Oman Fasteners, marking the sixth time the court has declined to address whether President Donald Trump legally expanded Section 232 duties on steel and aluminum derivatives (see 2401080037). Counsel for Home Depot confirmed in an email that its case was abandoned following the Supreme Court's most recent rejection (Home Depot USA v. U.S., CIT # 22-00014).
The Commerce Department's use of thresholds proposed by Dr. Jacob Cohen -- the creator of the Cohen's d test -- for evaluating the d statistic in the agency's analysis to detect "masked" dumping isn't line with "normal statistical practice," exporter SeAH Steel Corp. argued in a Jan. 8 reply brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Stupp Corp. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1663).
The "low standard of proof" that the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force used in adding exporter Ninestar Corp. to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List violates the requirements of UFLPA as written in the statute, Ninestar argued in a Jan. 10 supplemental brief at the Court of International Trade (Ninestar Corp. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00182).
Roop Bhatti, former International Trade Commission chief of staff, has joined trade law firm Cassidy Levy as a partner, the firm announced in an email. She worked at the ITC for nearly five years, also serving as counsel to Commissioner Jason Kearns and an attorney adviser.
Navy Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay a $5,500 fine for sending U.S. military information to a Chinese intelligence officer, DOJ announced. Zhao pleaded guilty in October to one count of conspiring with an intelligence officer and one count of receiving a bribe, DOJ said.