Federal Circuit Issues Mandate in Key Section 232 Case After Denying Full Court Rehearing

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its mandate in a case challenging the president's ability to adjust Section 232 tariffs beyond certain procedural time limits after denying the plaintiff-appellee, Transpacific Steel, a full court rehearing. The decision found that the president can hike Section 232 national security tariffs beyond the 105-day time frame for action set out in the statute, so long as that action is part of an underlying "plan of action" (see 2107130059). Transpacifc moved for a full court rehearing, arguing that the majority of the panel ruling on the case failed to impose the congressionally mandated limitations to the president's power laid out in Section 232. This petition was denied on Sept. 24 (see 2109270019) (Transpacific Steel LLC, et al. v. United States, Fed. Cir. #20-2157).