DOJ broke the rules of the U.S. Court of International Trade when it filed its motion for case management procedures (see 2009240040) in the original Section 301 litigation docket and not those of the other complaints, argued Husch Blackwell in court papers (in Pacer) Friday. The firm sued (in Pacer) on behalf of 3A Composites USA and more than seven dozen other importers Sept. 18 and filed a second complaint (in Pacer) for Flexfab Horizons International and five other plaintiffs Sept. 21. Both complaints, like the more than 3,400 others, seek to vacate the Lists 3 and 4A tariffs and get the duties refunded. DOJ’s motion gave no explanation why it “believes it needs to rush to put the procedures it suggests in place, or why its failure to follow the Court’s rules is justified,” said Husch Blackwell. Failure to serve the motion on lawyers other than Akin Gump, representing HMTX Industries in the original complaint, should be grounds for denial, it said. The firm's clients agree a conference should be convened to “address the procedural issues” in the many cases, it said. But designation of a test case “will depend upon the nature of the complaints that have been filed, and whether all complaints are virtually identical or are different in material respects,” it said. “DOJ makes no claim that it knows how similar or dissimilar the complaints are and provides no analysis for the conclusion that they should be treated alike.” DOJ didn't respond to questions.

Intel got U.S. export licenses to supply certain products to Huawei, emailed an Intel spokesperson Wednesday. There are increased U.S. restrictions against the Chinese technology company, including Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security August revisions to the foreign direct product rule that were intended to block Huawei’s ability to access U.S. technology (see 2008170043). A BIS spokesperson said the agency doesn't comment on licensing.

The roughly 800 complaints filed Tuesday into late Wednesday afternoon seeking to vacate the Lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods and get the duties refunded paled in comparison with the 3,300-plus that inundated the U.S. Court of International Trade the previous five days (see 2009220027). The Tuesday complaints used Sept. 24, 2018, the date List 3 took effect, to argue “timeliness,” that they were within the two-year statutory window to file their claims. Virtually all the suits we examined alleged the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative overstepped its authority under the 1974 Trade Act when it imposed Lists 3 and 4A as retaliatory strikes against China. They also alleged USTR violated the Administrative Procedure Act by running rulemakings that were sloppy and lacked transparency. Automotive supplier Brose North America and five subsidiaries introduced a novel argument Tuesday that Lists 3 and 4A were unlawful and unconstitutional forms of federal “revenue collection.” Trump administration statements show “an additional, if not the sole, reason and purpose” for Lists 3 and 4A “was to collect revenue for the federal general treasury,” said the complaint (in Pacer). “To the extent the List 3 and 4A additional duties were revenue collection measures, they were beyond the scope of actions USTR was authorized to take by the Trade Act.” Only Congress has the “constitutional power” to impose taxes, it said. USTR didn’t comment.

The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security is preparing industry guidance for its August restrictions on Huawei (see 2008170043), said Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce-Export Administration Matt Borman. BIS will issue FAQs similar to its “fairly extensive” FAQs for new licensing restrictions for military-related exports, he told BIS' Material and Equipment Technical Advisory Committee meeting. He asked METAC members and industry to provide input on the pre-rule for foundational technologies (see 2008260013). The agency is looking for more candidates for emerging technology controls and wants to get back into the “process” of using industry comments to develop its own controls, Borman said Thursday.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined Comtech Telecommunications $894,111 for exporting warrantied satellite equipment and providing services and training to the Sudan Civil Aviation Authority, OFAC said. The settlement mandates bolstering its sanctions compliance program, including more frequent risk assessments, stricter internal controls and improved compliance training. From June 2014 to October 2015, Comtech indirectly exported the equipment and “facilitated ongoing telephone support” and training despite knowing the ultimate customer was under sanction by the U.S., OFAC said: Company affiliates signed a sales agreement with a Canadian satellite communications equipment manufacturer that was procuring the equipment for a Sudanese end user. The resolution will strengthen "Comtech’s compliance program," said CEO Fred Kornberg. "Trade compliance has been, and will continue to be, a top priority.” The company didn't comment further Friday.

More than a dozen classifications of tech goods from China eligible for "preferential" tariff treatment under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on free trade remain subject to applicable Trade Act Section 301 tariffs, Customs and Border Protection ruled. It's dated last Friday and was released by CBP this week. "The country of origin of the subject goods for purposes of Section 301 is China and therefore, subject to the Section 301 duties," said CBP. The goods include hard drives, modems, switchers, routers and power supplies.

The U.S. needs to increase funding to support “collaborative, pre-competitive R&D” in the semiconductor industry and offer “incentives” for boosting domestic production, said the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Thursday. It should invite participation of semiconductor enterprises “headquartered in like-minded nations,” said ITIF. The increasing cost, complexity and scale required to innovate and manufacture semiconductors “means that no single nation or enterprise can go it alone,” it said. “In the face of challenges from China, allied cooperation in semiconductors is critical.” China views the semiconductor sector as the linchpin of its digital development and "broadest-scale economic growth plans,” said ITIF. It has shown it’s willing to use “every tool at its disposal in its efforts to develop a world-class semiconductor industry,” it said.

The Treasury Department will soon require declarations to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. when transactions involving critical technologies would normally be subject to an American export license. Its final rule makes some changes and clarifications, partly due to industry comments. It's effective Oct. 15, said Tuesday's Federal Register. Existing declaration requirements for critical tech apply to transactions “for which specific actions occurred” Feb. 13-Oct. 14.

IBM said the Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security should impose targeted export controls on specific facial recognition software, not restrict the entire category, since some of the technology can be used for benign purposes. There are “clear use-cases that must be off limits” for export, such as artificial intelligence-powered software used for mass surveillance and human rights abuses, but other technologies are safe for everyday uses, said Friday comments on a July BIS notice on potential license requirements for items that may be used for crowd control reasons and human rights abuses. IBM said BIS should control facial recognition technologies that use “‘1-to-many’ matching end uses.” Comments are due Tuesday.

U.S. ports in July handled 1.92 million 20-foot-long cargo containers or their equivalents, 2.3% fewer than a year earlier but up 19.3% sequentially from June, said the National Retail Federation Wednesday. Actual July port traffic was 9% higher than predicted a month ago. August was estimated at 2.06 million containers, a 6% year-over-year increase and a record monthly high, said NRF. “Retailers are importing far more merchandise for the holidays than we expected even a month ago,” it said. “Some of these imports are helping replenish inventories that started to run low after consumers unleashed pent-up demand when stores reopened. But this is the clearest sign yet that we could be in for a much happier holiday season than many had thought.”