Responding to tapered roller bearing exporters’ August motion for judgment that cited Loper Bright to challenge the Commerce Department’s use of Cohen’s d test in administrative reviews, the U.S. said Nov. 14 that the department still exercises significant discretion in antidumping and countervailing duty matters (Shanghai Tainai Bearing Co. v. United States, CIT # 24-00025).
Erik Woodhouse, a former senior sanctions official with the State Department, has returned to Crowell & Moring, the firm announced this week. Woodhouse left the State Department in July after serving as deputy assistant secretary for counter threat finance and sanctions and leading the agency's Office of Sanctions Coordination (see 2407310003). His practice will focus on sanctions compliance and issues related to the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering rules and regulations.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated between Nov. 6 and Nov. 18 with the following headquarters ruling (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The U.S. ignored the Supreme Court's recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo in defending its circumvention finding on exporter Canadian Solar, the solar panel exporter said in a Nov. 15 reply brief. Canadian Solar said the Commerce Department should not be shown "tremendous" deference, as claimed by the U.S., since the agency doesn't have "unbridled authority to make an affirmative finding of circumvention" (Canadian Solar International v. United States, CIT # 23-00222).
The Court of International Trade defined the term "partners" under the statute regarding affiliation analyses in antidumping duty cases as "a for profit cooperative endeavor in which parties share in risk and reward."
A Venezuelan national was sentenced Nov. 14 to 30 months in prison for his role in a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions on Petroleos de Venezuela, a Venezuelan state-owned oil company, DOJ announced.
In short remand results released Nov. 14, the Commerce Department said it was removing the 5.46% Export Buyers' Credit Program rate from a solar cell exporter’s countervailing duty (Risen Energy Co. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00153).
A Ukrainian citizen last living in Estonia was sentenced on Nov. 13 to 33 months in prison for skirting U.S. export laws by trying to smuggle a dual-use export-controlled "500 Series CPWZ Precision Jig Grinder" to Russia, DOJ announced. Stanislav Romanyuk, who was charged in 2022 (see 2210200023), pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme, admitting to brokering the sale of the jig grinder from an Estonia-based company he operated.
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York: