NEW YORK -- The Court of International Trade held oral argument on Jan. 18 in Chinese exporter Ninestar's case challenging its placement on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, addressing the company's motion for a preliminary injunction against its listing and its bid to unseal and unredact the record in the case (Ninestar Corp. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00182).

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai says that her agency and Congress "will need to work closely together" to address the fact that "existing rules of origin have left openings" for Chinese firms with operations outside China to avoid Section 301 tariffs and, depending where the operations occur, benefit from free trade agreements.

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).

Southern state lawmakers stressed their concern for kids’ safety as they supported bills Thursday to require age verification for social media and pornography websites. At a Florida House Regulatory Reform Subcommittee, Chair Tyler Sirois (R) defended banning children from social platforms even if their parents would allow it. During a South Carolina House Constitutional Laws Subcommittee hearing, the state's attorney general, Alan Wilson (R), strongly supported blocking kids from porn websites.

House Communications Subcommittee members again raised concerns about the impact the FCC Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program’s $3.08 billion funding shortfall is having on removing suspect gear from U.S. networks, as expected (see 2401100072). Their concerns came during a hearing Thursday. In addition, subpanel members offered generally positive reviews of the FCC's voluntary Cyber Trust Mark cybersecurity labeling program for smart devices (see 2308100032), but some GOP leaders were skeptical that it would remain voluntary as advertised.

Consumers' Research asked the U.S. Supreme Court to grant its cert petition challenging the FCC's method for determining the USF quarterly contribution factor, saying the case presents "an excellent vehicle for addressing the contours of nondelegation whose abuses highlight the dangers of delegated and politically unaccountable power." Docketed Friday (docket 23-743), the petition asked the court to review a Dec. 14 decision by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the Q4 2022 contribution factor (see 2312140058). Responses to the new petition are due Feb. 8.

Consumers' Research asked the U.S. Supreme Court to grant its cert petition challenging the FCC's method for determining the USF quarterly contribution factor, saying the case presents "an excellent vehicle for addressing the contours of nondelegation whose abuses highlight the dangers of delegated and politically unaccountable power." Docketed Friday (docket 23-743), the petition asked the court to review a Dec. 14 decision by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the Q4 2022 contribution factor (see 2312140058). Responses to the new petition are due Feb. 8.

The personally identifiable information (PII) of more than 1.3 million individuals was compromised due to a “critical flaw” in Citrix’s NetScaler software, alleged a class action Monday (docket 0:24-cv-60048) in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in Fort Lauderdale. The suit names Citrix, its customer LoanCare and LoanCare parent company Fidelity National Financial (FNF).

NetChoice hailed Tuesday’s decision in Columbus, Ohio, granting its motion for a temporary restraining order to block Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) from enforcing the state’s Parental Notification by Social Media Operators Act when it takes effect Jan. 15 (see 2401050055).

Eleven consumers sued HP Friday over the company’s requirement that customers of certain of its printers use only HP-branded replacement ink cartridges, said an 80-count antitrust and consumer fraud class action (docket 1:24-cv-00164) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago. HP required consumers who had bought its printers to use its cartridges, rather than buy ones from competitors, through firmware updates it distributed electronically to all registered owners of certain printers in late 2022 and early 2023, said the complaint. The firmware update “effectively disabled the printer if the user installed a replacement ink cartridge that was not HP-branded,” it said. During the same period, HP raised prices on its print cartridges, the complaint said, and “in effect,” created a “monopoly in the aftermarket for replacement cartridges, permitting it to raise prices without fear of being undercut by competitors.” A full HP-branded replacement ink cartridge set can cost $100 for many models, while competitors’ cartridges “may cost half as much,” it said. Among plaintiffs’ 80 claims are unjust enrichment and violations of numerous state consumer protection laws, the Sherman Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the complaint said. They seek an injunction requiring HP to disable the firmware updates that precluded the use of non-HP-branded replacement ink cartridges; compensatory, statutory and punitive damages; prejudgment interest; and attorneys’ fees and legal costs, it said.