A host of U.S. mattress producers and trade unions argued in a July 1 brief that the International Trade Commission's final affirmative injury determinations in antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on imported mattresses should be upheld at the Court of International Trade.

The Court of International Trade in a July 6 opinion upheld the Commerce Department's decision to grant a level-of-trade (LOT) adjustment for antidumping duty respondent Productos Laminados de Monterrey S.A. de C.V. (Prolamsa). Judge Timothy Stanceu sustained the LOT adjustment that Commerce made following the judge's initial remand order. The court ruled that petitioner Nucor Tubular Products' arguments that the higher selling expenses for one avenue of Prolamsa's trade were due to higher manufacturing costs and not higher selling expenses were "entirely speculative, if not illogical."

The Court of International in a July 7 opinion upheld CBP's decision to deny Shuzhen Zhong, an individual who took the customs broker license exam, a customs broker's license. Zhong, appearing pro se, had appealed two questions on her test to get to a passing grade of 75% or higher. Looking at CBP's defense of the answers to those questions, Judge Jane Restani ruled that CBP's decision to deny credit for both questions was backed by substantial evidence.

The Supreme Court's landmark ruling June 30 that curbed the Environmental Protection Agency's power to issue regulations intended to counter climate change is unlikely to have ramifications for trade cases at the Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, but there is a chance some trade actions with a larger scope could be affected, trade lawyers said in recent days.

The Commerce Department stuck by its decision to issue questionnaires in lieu of on-site verification due to the COVID-19-related travel restrictions in 2020 following an order from the Court of International Trade to either conduct verification virtually or further explain its original decision. The agency in June 30 remand results said that the plaintiffs, led by Bonney Forge, raised the issue of conducting a virtual verification too late and that mandatory respondent Shakti Forge Industries' questionnaire responses provide a "reasonable alternative" to on-site or remote verification (Bonney Forge Corporation v. United States, CIT #20-03837).

The Court of International Trade in a July 6 opinion upheld the Commerce Department's decision to grant a level-of-trade (LOT) adjustment for antidumping duty respondent Productos Laminados de Monterrey's (Prolamsa) heavy walled rectangular carbon welded steel pipes and tubes from Mexico. Judge Timothy Stanceu sustained the LOT adjustment which Commerce made following the judge's initial remand order. The court ruled that petitioner Nucor Corp.'s arguments that the higher selling expenses for one avenue of Prolamsa's trade were due to higher manufacturing costs and not higher selling expenses were "entirely speculative, if not illogical."

The Court of International Trade in a June 9 opinion made public July 1 sent back parts and upheld parts of the Commerce Department's final determination in the antidumping duty investigation on biodiesel from Indonesia. Judge Richard Eaton said that Commerce's decision to rely on constructed value based on particular market situation findings for home market sales made through Indonesia's Public Service Obligation program was valid, but that the reliance on CV for non-program sales needed to be further explained. The judge also held that the agency had to further explain its legal authority to make a CV adjustment to account for Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) -- tradeable credits issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Court of International Trade in a July 1 order granted the U.S.'s motion for entry of confession of judgment in a customs case on imported hardwood plywood from Richmond International Forest Products (RIFP). In all, Richmond filed four cases over 60 entries of hardwood plywood, which CBP classified as of Chinese-origin, assessing antidumping, countervailing and Section 301 duties, along with a merchandise processing fee. RIFP argued that the plywood is from Cambodia, filing a series of protests that CBP denied (Richmond International Forest Products Inc. v. United States, CIT #21-00178).

The Court of International Trade in a June 30 opinion upheld the Labor Department's decision to deny a group of former AT&T call center workers trade adjustment assistance, ruling that the department "(finally) gets it right," following two previous remand orders. Judge M. Miller Baker ruled that Labor adequately explained the evidence it relied on, asserting that the department appropriately relied on certified information to declare that the company did not offshore the plaintiffs' call center jobs.

The Court of International Trade in a June 9 opinion made public July 1 sent back the Commerce Department's final determination in the antidumping duty investigation on biodiesel from Indonesia. Commerce found that one or more particular market situations existed for exporter Wilmar Trading's home market sales outside of a government-subsidized grant program. In his remand, Judge Richard Eaton said Commerce must either back its PMS finding with evidence or use the price paid for Wilmar's non-program sales to determine normal value in the investigation. Eaton also sent back Commerce's decision to adjust constructed value.