Surety firm Aegis Security Insurance Co. argued on Oct. 21 that the government's action seeking to collect unpaid duties on a Chinese honey entry imported in 2002 is barred by the statute of limitations or CBP's failure to issue the bill for the duties within a reasonable amount of time. Should either of these theories fall short, Aegis said it's entitled to judgment due to CBP's "inordinate and inexcusable delay in billing Aegis" and the fact that its reinsurer went insolvent, among other confounding factors, the company said (United States v. Aegis Security Insurance Co., CIT # 22-00327).
The following lawsuit was recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The Court of International Trade on Oct. 21 in a confidential decision sustained the Commerce Department's denials of all eight of importer Seneca Foods Corp.'s requests for exclusions from Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs. Judge Gary Katzmann gave the parties until Oct. 22 to review the confidential information in the decision. Katzmann previously remanded the exclusion rejection on the grounds the Bureau of Industry and Security failed to address contradicting evidence that the U.S. industry couldn't timely provide the importer's tin mill products (see 2310180052). On remand, BIS stuck with its rejections of the exclusion requests, finding that U.S. Steel can make the same products in a sufficient quantity and in a timely manner to satisfy Seneca's needs (see 2404020047) (Seneca Foods Corp. v. United States, CIT # 22-00243).
The Court of International Trade on Oct. 18 granted the voluntary dismissal of importer LE Commodities' challenge to the Commerce Department's rejection of its requests for exclusions from Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs (LE Commodities v. U.S., CIT # 23-00220).
Exporter Hoshine Silicon (Jia Xiang) Industry Co. on Oct. 18 told the Court of International Trade that it has statutory and constitutional standing to challenge CBP's denial of its petition to modify the withhold release order imposed on silica-based products made by its parent company Hoshine Silicon and its subsidiaries (Hoshine Silicon (Jia Xing) Industry Co. v. United States, CIT # 24-00048).
Chinese drone-maker DJI Technology Co. is challenging the Pentagon's designation of the firm as a Chinese military company, saying the agency applied the "wrong legal standard," mixed up individuals "with common Chinese names" and relied on "stale alleged facts and attenuated connections that fall short of demonstrating" the company is connected to the Chinese military (SZ DJI Technology Co. v. U.S., D.D.C. # 24-02970).
The Court of International Trade on Oct. 21 sent back the Commerce Department's de jure specificity finding regarding exporter Kaptan Demir Celik Endustrisi ve Ticaret's exemption from Turkey's 0.2% Banking and Insurance Transactions Tax on foreign exchange transactions. Judge Gary Katzmann said that, in the 2020 review of the countervailing duty order on Turkish rebar, the agency failed to show that the exemption was limited by enterprise or industry.
Exporter Oman Fasteners on Oct. 18 urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to reschedule oral argument in its antidumping duty appeal that is currently set for Nov. 7. Counsel for the exporter said an "unforeseeable scheduling conflict arose that will make it exceedingly difficult" for the company to argue the case on that date (Oman Fasteners v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1661).
Exporter Shelter Forest International Acquisition filed a reply brief at the Court of International Trade on Oct. 15, arguing that the U.S. and petitioner Coalition for Fair Trade in Hardwood Plywood failed to justify the Commerce Department's rejection of the company's new factual information in a circumvention proceeding on Vietnamese hardwood plywood. Shelter Forest said both the government and the petitioner didn't address "important past judicial precedent" (Shelter Forest International Acquisition v. United States, CIT Consol. # 23-00144)
The Court of International Trade in a confidential Oct. 18 order sustained in part and remanded in part the Commerce Department's countervailing duty investigation on passenger vehicle and light truck tires from Vietnam. Judge Timothy Reif gave the parties until Oct. 25 to review the confidential information in the decision for potential bracketing. The suit was brought by exporter Kumho Tire (Vietnam), which received a 7.89% CVD rate and claimed that Commerce can't countervail Vietnam's currency valuation practices (see 2206030027) (Kumho Tire (Vietnam) Co. v. United States, CIt # 21-00397).