Jacob Kopnick

The Department of Justice seeks a stay from the Court of International Trade of the liquidation of PrimeSource's entries pending DOJ's appeal of CIT's decision that struck down President Donald Trump's expansion of Section 232 tariffs onto steel and aluminum “derivatives,” it said in a June 9 motion for partial stay of judgment.

The Court of International Trade erred in rejecting aluminum extrusion manufacturer Kingtom Aluminio's bid to intervene in a case challenging the determination of duty evasion in which Kingtom was the company alleged to be aiding in the evasion, Kingtom said in a June 25 brief requesting the court's reconsideration. Kingtom says that the court overlooked Kingtom's interest in the case and failed to consider that Kingtom shares a legal claim with the plaintiff (Global Aluminum Distributor LLC v. U.S., CIT #21-00198).

The Solar Energy Industries Association continued to push back on the government's arguments that President Donald Trump properly considered the domestic industry's views when he removed an exemption to Section 201 tariffs on bifacial solar panels. The revocation of the tariff exemption should be reversed, plaintiffs challenging the president's actions said in a June 25 brief. Responding to a filing from the Department of Justice defending the decision to pull the tariff exemption, plaintiffs, led by the SEIA, further alleged procedural shortcomings in the president's actions (Solar Energy Industries Association et al. v. United States, CIT #20-03941).

The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:

Illegally subsidized imports of passenger vehicle and light truck tires from Vietnam are causing injury to U.S. industry, the International Trade Commission said in a June 23 press release on its final injury determination in the ongoing countervailing duty investigation, which gives the green light to Commerce to issue a countervailing duty order based on currency undervaluation for the first time since it issued regulations on the subject in 2020 (see 2002030016).

No lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade.

Hyundai Steel Co. did not receive a countervailable benefit through its payment of sewerage fees, the company argued in a June 22 motion for judgment. The Commerce Department's conclusion to the contrary in a countervailing duty administrative review of cut-to-length carbon-quality steel plate from South Korea is not supported by substantial evidence and is contrary to law, Hyundai said (Hyundai Steel Company v. United States, CIT #21-00012).

Counsel for an alleged transshipper in a duty evasion scheme, Kingtom Aluminio, plans to ask the Court of International Trade to reconsider a decision it made to deny the company the right to intervene in a case challenging the determination of evasion. In an Enforce and Protect Act case concerning duties on aluminum extrusions from China, CBP found that importer Global Aluminum Distributor evaded the duties by bringing in the extrusions via Kingtom in the Dominican Republic. Global Aluminum says that Kingtom was the actual manufacturer of the goods in question (Global Aluminum Distributor LLC v. U.S., CIT #21-00198).

An in lieu of verification (ILV) questionnaire cannot substitute for an actual verification of information submitted as part of a countervailing duty proceeding, Turkish exporter Teknik Aluminyum Sanayi said in a June 24 complaint at the Court of International Trade. Challenging the Commerce Department's use of adverse facts available in a CVD investigation of common alloy aluminum sheet from Turkey, Teknik said that Commerce did not provide adequate notice that the exporter's filings were deficient as is required (Teknik Aluminyum Sanayi A.S. v. United States, CIT 21-00251).

The Commerce Department again reversed course on applying a particular market situation adjustment to the cost of production for South Korean steel in an antidumping review, and those remand results were sustained by the Court of International Trade in a June 24 decision.