Trade Law Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week, in case you missed them. All articles can be found by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
After a remand, the Commerce Department once again refused to exclude certain steel products from Section 232 steel and aluminum duties even though their importer can’t get the needed materials domestically, that importer said in March 8 comments. Instead, it claimed, the department continued to simply rely on the word of its competitor (California Steel Industries v. U.S., CIT # 21-00015).
The Court of International Trade on April 8 referred LE Commodities' challenge to 14 denied requests for exclusions from Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs to mediation before Judge Leo Gordon. The order was penned by Judge M. Miller Baker, who gave the parties until July 8 to complete the mediation, unless Gordon "recommends an extension" (LE Commodities v. United States, CIT # 22-00245).
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security continued to deny importer Seneca Food's eight Section 232 steel tariff exclusion requests for its tin mill products on remand at the Court of International Trade. BIS said that U.S. Steel can make the same products in a sufficient quantity and in a timely manner to satisfy Seneca's needs, prompting the rejection of the exclusion bids (Seneca Foods Corp. v. United States, CIT # 22-00243).
A federal grand jury indicted Chinese national Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, for allegedly stealing trade secrets on artificial intelligence technology from Google, DOJ announced March 6. Ding, who was residing in California, purportedly transferred the trade secrets from "Google's network to his personal account while secretly affiliating himself with" Chinese companies in the AI industry.
Trade Law Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week, in case you missed them. All articles can be found by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Bureau of Industry and Security chief counsel Opher Shweiki left the federal government after over 25 years at DOJ and BIS, he said in a post on LinkedIn Feb. 14. He said he will start his “next adventure” next week. BIS didn’t immediately comment.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security again rejected 193 requests for exclusions from Section 232 steel and aluminum duties sought by importer California Steel Industries on its steel slab imports. Filing its remand results to the Court of International Trade on Feb. 9, BIS said that "no overriding national security concerns require that" the exclusions be granted (California Steel Industries v. United States, CIT # 21-00015).
The U.S. charged four Chinese nationals this week for their parts in a yearslong conspiracy to violate export controls by smuggling electronic parts through China and to Iran.
Elizabeth Cannon, former global trade counsel with Microsoft, has joined the Bureau of Industry and Security as the executive director of the agency’s Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services, a BIS spokesperson said. That office is responsible for implementing certain prohibitions on information and communications technology and services transactions, restrictions on foreign access to certain U.S. sensitive data, and more. Cannon’s first day was Jan. 22.