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.
The EU General Court on Sept. 4 upheld the sanctions listing for Samer al-Assad, a cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, after rejecting Samer al-Assad's claim that the EU's listing criteria, which permit sanctions on the president's family members, violates "general principles of EU law."
The EU Court of Justice on Sept. 5 said that a notary doesn't violate sanctions on Russia by authenticating the sale of a property owned by a non-sanctioned Russian company. The court said that authentication services don't amount to the provision of "legal advisory services," which are barred under EU sanctions if provided to "legal persons established in Russia."
The Judicial Council of the Federal Circuit on Sept. 6 extended the ban on Judge Pauline Newman from hearing new cases for another year. The decision comes after a recommendation from Judges Kimberly Moore, Sharon Prost and Richard Taranto to extend the sanction on Newman, 97, which was originally imposed for her refusal to cooperate with an investigation into her fitness to continue serving as a judge (see 2407240029). The three judges said Newman hadn't shown any evidence to undermine the record "raising serious concerns about" her "cognitive state" and that the judge still hasn't cooperated with the investigation. The extended ban will run for one year from the date of the Sept. 6 order.
DOJ on Sept. 5 unsealed two indictments against dual Russian-U.S. citizens Dimitri Simes and Anastasia Simes, residents of Huntly, Virginia, for their role in a scheme to violate U.S. sanctions.
Importer Woodcraft Supply filed a complaint on Sept. 6 at the Court of International Trade seeking refunds on duties overpaid due to CBP's refusal to use "first sale" valuation on the company's woodworking tools and related article imports (Woodcraft Supply v. United States, CIT # 22-00253).
The Commerce Department stuck by its treatment of antidumping duty respondent Assan Aluminyum's raw material costs and hedging revenues on remand at the Court of International Trade in the AD investigation on aluminum foil from Turkey. However, the agency modified Assan's duty drawback adjustment, resulting in a slight uptick in the respondent's AD rate, from 2.28% to 2.3% (Assan Aluminyum Sanayi ve Tiaret v. United States, CIT # 21-00616).
The U.S. on Sept. 3 unsealed charges of terrorism, murder conspiracy and sanctions evasion against six Hamas leaders for their role in planning the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks against Israel, DOJ announced. The six people -- Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar, Mohammad al-Masri, Marwan Issa, Khaled Meshaal and Ali Baraka -- and their co-conspirators allegedly "control all aspects of the terrorist organization, including its political and military branches," DOJ said.
An importer of stainless steel sinks from China filed its motion for judgment in a case it brought in 2020 challenging CBP’s assessment of antidumping and countervailing duties on the entire declared value of its products despite “express instructions” to do otherwise (R.H. Peterson v. U.S., CIT # 20-00099).
Parties in an antidumping duty case at the Court of International Trade continued their dispute on whether the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo should eliminate any deference shown to the Commerce Department's definition of the term "partners" in 19 U.S.C. Section 1677(33) (Ventura Coastal v. U.S., CIT # 23-00009).