Three conservation advocacy groups, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Animal Welfare Institute, moved to intervene in a case from a group of seafood product companies against the National Marine Fisheries Service's comparability findings of 240 fisheries across 46 nations, which will lead to an import ban from the fisheries. The advocacy groups also moved the Court of International Trade for an expedited consideration of their intervention motion so that they can take part in the court's expedited consideration of the seafood companies' motion for a preliminary injunction against the comparability findings (National Fisheries Institute v. United States, CIT # 25-00223).
A group of 44 leading economists, including former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and four Nobel Prize winners, filed an amicus brief at the Supreme Court on Oct. 23 to contest President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs, arguing that the threat underlying the tariffs, sustained trade deficits, don't amount to an "unusual and extraordinary" threat to the U.S. economy, as required by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (Donald J. Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, U.S. 25-250) (Learning Resources v. Donald J. Trump, U.S. 24-1287).
Twenty-seven amicus briefs were filed at the Supreme Court on Oct. 24 in opposition to the ability of President Donald Trump to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, bringing to 35 the total number of amicus briefs filed at the high court against the tariffs. The amici are a mix of law professors, current and former government officials, policy advocacy groups, economists and individual companies.
The Court of International Trade on Oct. 20 denied importer Detroit Axle's motion to lift the stay of its case contesting President Donald Trump's decision to end the de minimis threshold for goods from China. In a text-only order, the trade court said the company's motion for partial summary judgment is stayed pending resolution of V.O.S. Selections v. Donald J. Trump, the lead case on whether Trump can use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs, which is currently being briefed before the Supreme Court (Axle of Dearborn d/b/a Detroit Axle v. United States, CIT # 25-00091).
The Supreme Court on Oct. 23 expanded the time for oral argument in the lead cases on the legality of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, giving each side 40 minutes to make their cases. However, the court said the parties challenging the tariffs, which are two groups of importers and one group of 12 U.S. states, shall split their time evenly between the private parties and the U.S. states (Donald J. Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, U.S. 25-250) (Learning Resources v. Donald J. Trump, U.S. 24-1287).
The Court of International Trade on Oct. 22 denied the government's motion to stay judicial proceedings in a lawsuit from various seafood importers against the National Marine Fisheries Service's comparability findings of 240 fisheries across 46 nations. While the U.S. said the case should be stayed due to the federal government shutdown, Judge Joseph Laroski said the government's concerns regarding the shutdown, "while substantial, do not outweigh the urgency of judicial review" in this case due to the harm alleged by the importers (National Fisheries Institute v. United States, CIT # 25-00223).
The Commerce Department didn't properly support its decision to base antidumping duty respondent Toyo Kohan's date of sale for the company's U.S. sales on its shipment date in the 2022-23 review of the AD order on diffusion-annealed, nickel-plated flat-rolled steel products from Japan, the Court of International Trade held in a decision issued Oct. 23.
Two law professors focusing on sanctions law filed an amicus brief at the Supreme Court on Oct. 22 focusing on the history of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The professors, Fordham School of Law's Andrew Kent and University of Virginia School of Law's Paul Stephan, argued that IEEPA, which confers emergency powers for peacetime, doesn't let the president impose tariffs on imports and "stands in contrast" with the Trading With the Enemy Act, which "authorizes war powers" (Donald J. Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, U.S. 25-250) (Learning Resources v. Donald J. Trump, U.S. 24-1287).
Kenneth Nunnenkamp, former partner at Morgan Lewis, has joined Blank Rome as a partner in the international trade practice group, the firm announced. Nunnenkamp's practice centers on national security issues, including Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States reviews, export controls and sanctions. At Morgan Lewis, he led the firm's CFIUS working group.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Oct. 20 announced that the Circuit Library is closed until further notice, and that "all public and support services, including services to members of the bar and unrepresented filers, are suspended" during the course of the federal government shutdown. The announcement comes after the federal court system said it ran out of money to continue full, paid operations on Oct. 20 (see 2510200021).