The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held oral argument on Nov. 4 in a pair of cases on the International Trade Commission's treatment of business proprietary information in injury proceedings. Judges Timothy Dyk, Richard Taranto and Raymond Chen pressed Courtney McNamara, counsel for the ITC, on the commission's policy of treating questionnaire submissions as confidential; on the Court of International Trade's separate authority to publicize information deemed confidential by the ITC; and on whether notice should be provided to the commission prior to the trade court's exercise of that authority (In Re United States, Fed. Cir. #s 24-1566, 25-127).

Importer Lanxess argued again Oct. 31 that its polymerization accelerator -- a substance used to accelerate the chemical process of plastic manufacturing -- is properly classified as a “supported catalyst,” not as a chemical preparation (Lanxess Corporation v. United States, CIT # 23-00073).

President Donald Trump on Nov. 2 said he won't attend the Supreme Court's oral argument on Nov. 5 on whether the president can use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he didn't want to call attention to himself, adding that "[i]t's not about me, it's about our country" (Donald J. Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, U.S. 25-250) (Learning Resources v. Donald J. Trump, U.S. 24-1287).

The U.S. agreed to stay the effective date of an import ban for swimming crab fisheries in Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka pending the National Marine Fisheries Service's reconsideration of the comparability findings for these fisheries (National Fisheries Institute v. United States, CIT # 25-00223).

The Trump administration filed its reply brief on Oct. 30 in the Supreme Court cases on the legality of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, addressing a host of arguments relating to the text of the IEEPA, all of the statute's requirements and the history of the measure (Donald J. Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, U.S. 25-250) (Learning Resources v. Donald J. Trump, U.S. 24-1287).

Mandi Rae Lumley, a member of the Yakama Native American tribe, filed suit against the imposition of tariffs against her, claiming any duties assessed against her violate the 1855 Yakama Treaty. Lumley, filing suit along with her company Tikkun Olam Holdings, said the Yakama Treaty lets members of the Yakama tribe "use any public highway to carry on free trade with any trading partner" (Mandi Rae Lumley v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, D.Or. # 3:25-02003).

Both the government and a group of seafood importers opposed three conservation groups' attempt to intervene in the seafood importers' case against the National Marine Fisheries Service's comparability findings on 240 fisheries across 46 nations, which will lead to an import ban from the fisheries on Jan. 1, 2026 (National Fisheries Institute v. United States, CIT # 25-00223).

The U.S. sought Rule 37 sanctions Oct. 29 against an importer of steel hangers after he failed to appear for depositions in several civil duty evasion cases. It asked the Court of International Trade for default judgments in all three cases (United States v. Zhe “John” Liu, CIT #s 22-00215, 23-00116, 24-00132).

Neal Katyal, partner at Milbank, will argue at the Supreme Court on behalf of the private parties during the Nov. 5 hearing on the legality of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a representative of the parties confirmed (Donald J. Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, U.S. 25-250) (Learning Resources v. Donald J. Trump, U.S. 24-1287).

Battery importer Camel Energy urged the Court of International Trade on Oct. 29 to expedite its case on CBP's exclusion of two of its entries. The company said "good cause" exists to speed up the case, since the importer "continues to incur damages in port and storage fees" and the exclusion of the goods "prevented Camel’s North American customers from receiving their products" (Camel Energy v. United States, CIT # 25-00230).