The Court of International Trade in a confidential decision Nov. 22 sustained the Commerce Department's remand results in the 2017-18 review of the antidumping duty order on aluminum foil from China. In the case, exporter Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination Materials and the U.S. disagreed on selections for world benchmark prices for an input and for land purchases (see 2410280038). The exporter preferred an input price benchmark that was a composite of GlobalTrade Atlas data and Commodities Research Unit data, while Commerce went with Trade Data Monitor data (Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination Materials Co. v. U.S., CIT # 21-00133).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit scheduled oral argument for the massive litigation involving thousands of companies against the lists 3 and 4A Section 301 China tariffs. The argument will be held Jan. 8 at 10 a.m. EST in Courtroom 203 (HMTX Industries v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1891).
Congressional intent is not "frustrated" when duty drawback claims on entries that aren't liquidated "and become final" within one year of the drawback claim being made aren't deemed liquidated, the U.S. said in a Nov. 22 reply brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Performance Additives v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 24-2059).
The chair of the fisheries subsidies negotiations at the World Trade Organization, Iceland's Einar Gunnarsson, is looking to wrap up the second wave of fisheries negotiations by the General Council meeting in December. Gunnarsson said he held meetings with 28 WTO members and group representatives, finding that the "overwhelming majority" of these parties "consider that the draft text" on the fisheries subsidies talks "serves as the basis" for reaching a final deal.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Nov. 20 advised attorneys to be aware of fake CM/ECF notices of electronic filing and notices of docket activity that are being sent to attorneys and law firms. The court said there has been "nationwide reporting" of these fake notices, which are phishing attempts meant to trick the recipients into replying to the email, where they are directed to a malicious website. The court said users should "validate cases and case documentation only through CM/ECF, and never download any attachments or click any links from unofficial or questionable sources."
The U.S charged seven Indian businessmen with conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by paying bribes to Indian government officials to receive "lucrative solar energy supply contracts with the Indian government," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced. The indictment, unsealed Nov. 20, also outlines various securities and wire fraud charges against the businessmen and names Gautam Adani, one of the world's richest people, as a defendant.
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The Court of International Trade reassigned a customs penalty action against California-based solar cell importer executive Paul Bakhoum from Judge Richard Eaton to Judge Stephen Vaden. The U.S. brought the suit in October, accusing Bakhoum of neglignece and seeking $776,250.51 in unpaid duties and damages (see 2410080051). Bakhoum worked as the vice president for solar cell importer Ecosolargy and is alleged to have made various errors when entering solar shipments during 2014-15. An attorney for the U.S. didn't respond to a request for comment on the case reassignment (U.S. v. Paul Bakhoum, CIT # 24-00188).
Turkish exporter Eregli Demir ve Celik Fabrikalari (Erdemir) filed a trio of opening briefs in its three concurrent appeals at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, all of which are seeking to account for the exclusion of exporter Colakoglu from the antidumping duty order on hot-rolled steel from Turkey in the International Trade Commission's five-year sunset review of the order.
The Commerce Department calculated a zero percent dumping margin for exporter Grupo Simec on remand at the Court of International Trade, dropping the 66.7% adverse facts available rate for the company in the 2019-20 review of the antidumping duty order on steel concrete rebar from Mexico. Commerce accepted submissions from the exporter on remand after the trade court said the agency unreasonably declined an extension request from the company (Grupo Acecero v. United States, CIT # 22-00202).