The Court of International Trade will put a temporary hold on liquidation of entries of aluminum extrusions imported by Kingtom Aluminio while it considers a preliminary injunction requested by a domestic industry group, it said in an Aug. 18 order (Aluminum Extrusions Fair Trade Committee v. United States, CIT # 22-00236).

The Court of International Trade on Aug. 18 granted the government’s request for a voluntary remand in an importer’s challenge to a CBP Enforce and Protect Act evasion finding on tri-bar floors imported in farrowing crates. DOJ had requested the remand a day earlier, seeking to add to the record of the EAPA proceeding a recent Commerce Department scope ruling that also found the tri-bar floors subject to the scope of antidumping and countervailing duty orders on steel grating from China (Ikadan System USA v. United States, CIT # 21-00592).

The Court of International Trade should uphold a "reasonable" final determination by the Commerce Department that oil country tubular goods made in Brunei and the Philippines from Chinese hot-rolled steel coils are circumventing antidumping and countervailing duties on OCTG from China, intervenors Welded Tube USA, Wheatland Tube Company, and Vallourec Star said in an Aug. 19 brief (HLDS (B) Steel v. United States, CIT #21-00638).

The Commerce Department should accept an exporter's evidence of entries to establish a separate rate in an antidumping duty case, or else conclude that it had no shipments and not review the company, the exporter, Ningbo Qixin, argued in an Aug. 18 reply brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Canadian Solar International, et al. v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 20-2162).

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

The misclassification of 543 entries of metal lids was simple negligence, not a fraudulent scheme, importer Crown Cork & Seal said in its motion to dismiss parts of an amended government complaint. The motion asks the court to dismiss counts of fraud and gross negligence, leaving only the negligence count (United States v. Crown Cork & Seal, USA, CIT #21-00361).

The Commerce Department erred in its calculations when assigning countervailing duty rates in an administrative review on multilayered wood flooring from China, according to three separate complaints filed at the Court of International Trade. The complaints, all filed on Aug. 17, primarily challenge Commerce's findings of less than adequate remuneration (LTAR) in calculating duty rates and adverse facts applied to the government of China.

CBP and the Commerce Department engaged in several abuses of discretion in a prolonged Enforce and Protect Act investigation into alleged evasion of hardwood plywood, InterGlobal Forest (IGF) said in an Aug. 17 complaint at the Court of International Trade. IGF contests a January EAPA decision that found evidence of evasion and the June decision by CBP's Office of Regulations and Rulings that affirmed it (InterGlobal Forest v. United States, CIT # 22-00240).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruling to overturn a Court of International Trade decision that called into question the use of first sale treatment for imported goods involving non-market economy countries (see 2208110060) is largely seen as providing a welcome relief to importers, several law firms said. "For those importers enjoying the benefits of lower declared values and duties, particularly from China in light of Section 301 tariffs, there is no longer a need for concern now that, on appeal, the court has given first sale a nod," Sandler Travis lawyer Lenny Feldman said on a podcast. The original CIT decision (Meyer Corporation v. U.S., Fed. Cir. #21-1392) raised some concerns for the future of first sale treatment (see 2104200028).

The Court of International Trade on Aug. 18 upheld the Commerce Department’s decision to apply facts available to production costs for a French steel plate exporter unable to distinguish between costs for its prime and non-prime merchandise, but again remanded the agency’s determination to use sales prices as a stand-in.