The U.S. defended the methodology it used to calculate the amount of supplier subsides attributable to exporters Les Produits Forestiers D&G and its cross-owned affiliates, led by Les Produits Forestiers Portbec, on remand in a case on the expedited countervailing duty review of Canadian softwood lumber. Filing remand comments on Nov. 15, the government said two alternative methodologies floated by the petitioner, the Committee Overseeing Action for Lumber International Trade Investigations or Negotiations, both fall short (Committee Overseeing Action for Lumber International Trade Investigations or Negotiations v. U.S., CIT Consol. # 19-00122).
Jacob Kopnick
Jacob Kopnick, Associate Editor, is a reporter for Trade Law Daily and its sister publications Export Compliance Daily and International Trade Today. He joined the Warren Communications News team in early 2021 covering a wide range of topics including trade-related court cases and export issues in Europe and Asia. Jacob's background is in trade policy, having spent time with both CSIS and USTR researching international trade and its complexities. Jacob is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Public Policy.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit scheduled oral argument for the massive litigation involving thousands of companies against the lists 3 and 4A Section 301 China tariffs. The argument will be held Jan. 8 at 10 a.m. EST in Courtroom 203 (HMTX Industries v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1891).
Importer Printing Textiles, doing business as Berger Textiles, will appeal a Court of International Trade decision sustaining the Commerce Department's scope ruling that includes Printing Textile's "Canvas Banner Matisse" imports within the scope of the antidumping duty order on artist canvas from China (see 2410090022). In its decision, the trade court found the following sentence to be ambiguous: "Priming/coating includes the application of a solution, designed to promote the adherence of artist materials, such as paint or ink, to the fabric." The court said Commerce's interpretation of this sentence wasn't "per se unreasonable," rejecting Printing Textiles' bid for a narrow interpretation of the words "priming/coating" (Printing Textiles, d/b/a Berger Textiles v. U.S., CIT # 23-00192).
Congressional intent is not "frustrated" when duty drawback claims on entries that aren't liquidated "and become final" within one year of the drawback claim being made aren't deemed liquidated, the U.S. said in a Nov. 22 reply brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Performance Additives v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 24-2059).
The facilitator of the World Trade Organization dispute settlement reform talks told members at a Nov. 21 heads of delegation meeting to be "practical and flexible" in ramping up negotiations, the WTO said. With just two weeks to go before the final General Council meeting of 2024, Usha Dwarka-Canabady urged members to stay focused on restoring the dispute settlement system's functionality and not on creating a new system with "more onerous obligations."
The U.S. moved for a default judgment against importer E-Dong U.S.A. in a customs penalty suit at the Court of International Trade after the company failed to respond to the government's complaint. The U.S. brought the suit in March accusing E-Dong of failing to pay federal excise tax on entries of soju bottles from South Korea (see 2403290035). The government said the company entered the soju via "material or false statement" by failing to reference any of the owed excise tax. The summons and complaint were filed on March 28, and on Oct. 12, E-Dong was deemed served (U.S. v. E-Dong, U.S.A., CIT # 24-00066).
The Court of International Trade in a confidential decision Nov. 22 sustained the Commerce Department's remand results in the 2017-18 review of the antidumping duty order on aluminum foil from China. In the case, exporter Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination Materials and the U.S. disagreed on selections for world benchmark prices for an input and for land purchases (see 2410280038). The exporter preferred an input price benchmark that was a composite of GlobalTrade Atlas data and Commodities Research Unit data, while Commerce went with Trade Data Monitor data (Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination Materials Co. v. U.S., CIT # 21-00133).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Nov. 20 advised attorneys to be aware of fake CM/ECF notices of electronic filing and notices of docket activity that are being sent to attorneys and law firms. The court said there has been "nationwide reporting" of these fake notices, which are phishing attempts meant to trick the recipients into replying to the email, where they are directed to a malicious website. The court said users should "validate cases and case documentation only through CM/ECF, and never download any attachments or click any links from unofficial or questionable sources."
The U.S charged seven Indian businessmen with conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by paying bribes to Indian government officials to receive "lucrative solar energy supply contracts with the Indian government," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced. The indictment, unsealed Nov. 20, also outlines various securities and wire fraud charges against the businessmen and names Gautam Adani, one of the world's richest people, as a defendant.
The chair of the fisheries subsidies negotiations at the World Trade Organization, Iceland's Einar Gunnarsson, is looking to wrap up the second wave of fisheries negotiations by the General Council meeting in December. Gunnarsson said he held meetings with 28 WTO members and group representatives, finding that the "overwhelming majority" of these parties "consider that the draft text" on the fisheries subsidies talks "serves as the basis" for reaching a final deal.