In a science-heavy motion for judgment filed Oct. 24, an importer of enriched isotope compounds said that the Commerce Department had, in a scope ruling, misunderstood the essential chemistry behind its products (Cambridge Isotope Laboratories v. U.S., CIT # 23-00080).

The U.S. said it has a "better right than" Southwest Airlines does to Customs Passenger Processing Fees paid by individual passengers that cancel their tickets and never receive a refund or fail to use a travel credit. Filing a reply brief at the Court of International Trade on Oct. 24, the government argued that this specific situation "results in an unfair enrichment rather than the return of the customs inspection fee to the customer" (Southwest Airlines Co. v. United States, CIT # 22-00141).

The government's service of German exporter Koehler on its U.S. counsel in a customs penalty suit was "improper and insufficient," leaving the Court of International Trade without personal jurisdiction over the company, Koehler argued in an Oct. 24 motion to dismiss. The company added that even if service was sufficient, the court has no personal jurisdiction over the company anyway, since it's a German firm and the U.S. allegations don't relate to any activity by the company in the U.S. (United States v. Koehler Oberkirch GmbH, CIT # 24-00014).

A petitioner and an exporter responded Oct. 17 to the Commerce Department’s results on remand of a review of common alloy aluminum sheet from Turkey (see 2409060031), which saw the department mostly maintain its earlier positions (see 2405080048) (Assan Aluminyum Sanayi ve Ticaret v. U.S., CIT # 21-00616).

The following lawsuit was recently filed at the Court of International Trade:

Chinese lidar company Hesai Technology will meet with the U.S. to discuss next steps in the company's lawsuit against its designation as a Chinese military company after the Pentagon removed the firm from its list of companies with ties to China's military but immediately relisted it (see 2410230018). DOD relisted the company "based on the latest information available" (Hesai Technology Co. v. U.S. Department of Defense, D.D.C. # 24-01381).

Turkish state-owned bank Halkbank is not shielded from "common-law foreign sovereign immunity" in the U.S. government's suit against the bank for sanctions evasion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit said earlier this week, ruling that the U.S. may prosecute it on charges that it helped Iran evade U.S. sanctions (United States v. Turkiye Halk Bankasi, 2nd Cir. # 20-3499).

In two complaints before the Court of International Trade, Chinese pea protein exporters argued that the Commerce Department had unlawfully refused to assign separate rates to either mandatory respondent in a 2023 review, resulting in a separate rate dumping margin of 122.19% and a countervailing duty rate of 15.78% (Zhaoyuan Junbang Trading Co. v. U.S., CIT # 24-00179, -00180).

Domestic steel producer Zekelman Industries filed a lawsuit on Oct. 21 in a Washington, D.C., federal court alleging that the Mexican government breached its 2019 agreement with the U.S. to slow imports of Mexican steel products. The company argued that Mexico's breach of the deal "has devastated the U.S. steel industry," forcing the company to close two plants due to the oversupply of cheap steel (Zekelman Industries v. United States, D.D.C. # 24-02992).

The U.S. and importer Katana Racing jointly moved to refer a customs penalty suit to court-annexed mediation before the Court of International Trade following the court's recent decision rejecting Katana Racing's renewed motion to dismiss. The parties said in light of the decision, they "believe that resolution to this litigation could potentially be reached through court-annexed mediation" (U.S. v. Katana Racing, CIT # 19-00125).