Law firm Miller & Chevalier asked the Court of International Trade to partially lift the stay ordered in a handful of cases seeking refunds of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to let certain importers file a motion for a preliminary injunction to suspend liquidation of certain entries for which the importers have paid IEEPA tariffs.
Importer G&H Diversified Manufacturing opposed Jan. 8 the United States’ request for an extension of time in its steel tube classification case, saying it hadn’t been consulted and would be prejudiced by the delay (G&H Diversified Manufacturing v. United States, CIT # 22-00130).
AD/CVD evasion petitioner U.S. OCTG Manufacturers Association opposed a group of importers' bid for leave to amend their complaints in an Enforce and Protect Act case to add two counts to challenge CBP's initiation of the challenged EAPA investigations as "untimely" and the interim measures imposed as a violation of the importers' due process rights (LE Commodities v. United States, CIT Consol. # 25-00182).
The U.S. either "concedes, does not dispute, or misses the point of, [importer Cozy Comfort's] key arguments" in the importer's appeal of the Court of International Trade's decision classifying The Comfy, an oversized pullover, as a pullover and not a blanket, Cozy argued in a Jan. 9 reply brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Cozy Comfort v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 25-1889).
Regulatory attorney David Morrell left Jones Day on Jan. 9, according to a notice filed at the Court of International Trade. Morrell was serving as lead counsel for importer Wabtec in a case on the International Trade Commission's affirmative injury determination on freight rail couplers from China and Mexico (see 2510200045). Morell joined Jones Day as a partner in 2021 after holding various positions both in the first Trump administration and DOJ, leaving the agency in September 2020. According to the notice, Morrell said he "will be leaving the private practice of law" on Jan. 9.
The following lawsuits were filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Jan. 9 issued mandates in two cases: one from importer Nutricia North America on the classification of its medical food imports (see 2511170047) and the other in a countervailing duty case from exporter Kaptan Demir on the decision not to attribute subsidies provided to Kaptan's input supplier to Kaptan itself (see 2511170018) (Nutricia North America v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 24-1436) (Kaptan Demir Celik Endustrisi ve Ticaret v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 24-1431).
The government moved to stay various cases seeking refunds of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act pending the court's resolution of the government's "motion for extended case management procedures" filed in AGS Company Automotive Solutions v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, one of the lead cases on refunds.
Surety company Aegis Security Insurance filed a brief on Jan. 9 providing additional context for its opposition to the government's third motion for an extension of time to file its opening brief in a suit concerning unpaid duties against the surety despite the fact that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted the extension request (United States v. Aegis Security Insurance, Fed. Cir. # 25-2009).
The U.S. opened a customs penalty suit on Jan. 8 against importers Skyline International and Skyline Brands, along with their owner Zainulabedin Subhani, alleging that the three defendants undervalued their entries of household merchandise. The government is seeking a penalty totaling over $3.4 million for the defendants' alleged fraud along with a judgment of over $447,000, which represents the duties avoided by the defendants (United States v. Skyline International, CIT # 26-00295).