The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Sept. 12 allowed the Committee Overseeing Action for Lumber International Trade Investigations or Negotiations appear as an amicus in a case on the Commerce Department's use of the Cohen's d test to detect "masked" dumping. The committee filed the brief to respond to claims from other amici led by the Canadian government, which invoked various academic literature on the use of the test (see 2408230010) (Mid Continent Steel & Wire v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 24-1556).
Court of Federal Appeals Trade activity
The U.S. on Sept. 10 opposed exporter Koehler's request for the Court of International Trade to certify its order permitting service on the company's U.S. counsel to allow for an immediate appeal of the order. The government said an immediate appeal will fail to "materially advance the ultimate termination of the litigation" because the U.S. can still effect service through other means if the court's order is reversed (United States v. Koehler Oberkirch GmbH, CIT # 24-00014).
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Sept. 10 updated its 2024-25 sessions calendar and adopted a new 2025-26 sessions calendar, the court announced. The calendars will see the court hear cases the first full week of each month. In December 2024 and January-May 2025, the court will sit for the entire first full week along with the following Monday.
The Court of International Trade on Sept. 9 rejected importer Katana Racing's renewed motion to dismiss the govenrment's action against it seeking over $5.7 million in unpaid duties on passenger vehicle and light truck tires from China, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the trade court's previous dismissal of the case. In her first opinion since being confirmed to the court, Judge Lisa Wang said the U.S. didn't fail to properly identify the "person" liable for the violation, exhaust administrative remedies or bring the case on time (U.S. v. Katana Racing, CIT # 19-00125).
In oral argument Sept. 3 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit -- which the case's primary exporter attempted to avoid (see 2408020019 and 2408120039) -- judges clashed with the government over the Commerce Department's decision to assign unallocated costs to overhead, rather than another cost category (Risen Energy Co. v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 23-1550).
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.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Sept. 4 proposed amendments on its rules of practice, which, if adopted, would take effect Dec. 1. Comments on the rule changes are due on or before Oct. 4, the court said.
Judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Sept. 4 heard oral argument in a tariff classification case on electrical conduit imported by Shamrock Building Materials. Judges Richard Taranto, Todd Hughes and Tiffany Cunningham asked whether the conduit had an insulating function and whether there is a de minimis amount of insulating material a conduit needs to include to qualify for classification under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8547 (Shamrock Building Materials v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1648).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Sept. 5 issued its mandate in a trio of cases on whether the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 requires payouts of interest assessed after liquidation, known as delinquency interest, to affected domestic producers. In July, the court said the Act doesn't require the payment of delinquency interest but only requires payments of interest that's "earned" on antidumping and countervailing duties and "assessed under" the associated AD or CVD order (see 2407150031). The mandate awarded $44.16 in costs to the U.S. (Adee Honey Farms, et al. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 22-2105) (Hilex Poly Co. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 22-2106) (American Drew v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 22-2114).