DOJ Declines to Further Argue Over Steel 'Derivatives' Tariffs in CIT

The Department of Justice declined to submit additional arguments in defense of President Donald Trump's decision to expand Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs to steel derivatives beyond its original argument in front of the Court of International Trade, guaranteeing that the court will overturn the steel derivatives tariffs but allowing for an appeal.

The DOJ decision, delivered via a March 5 Joint Status Report, comes after a three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of International Trade greenlighted a challenge to the tariff expansion based on the expansion's timeliness (see 2101280034). In the status report, DOJ said it intends to stick with its already-rejected argument over the timeliness of the Section 232 expansion. “Defendants’ position continues to be that procedural preconditions for the issuance of Proclamation 9980 were met by the [Commerce] Secretary’s 2018 Steel Report and the timely issuance of Proclamation 9705, a position that the majority has already rejected,” the DOJ said.

DOJ concluded its status report by declaring there is no reason for the court to delay a final judgment. However, in the last line of the report, DOJ reserved the right to appeal the final decision. The company seeking relief, PrimeSource, argues the tariffs were announced well after the 105-day deadline for tariff action following the Commerce Department's report that led to the initial imposition of Section 232 steel tariffs in 2018 (see 1801120023). PrimeSource's lawsuit was followed by a flurry of cases brought by affected importers (see 2003130050). DOJ declined to comment.

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