Three Court of International Trade cases filed by Janssen Ortho were assigned to Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves and stayed following prompting from Janssen and the Department of Justice. The three orders from CIT stay the cases for 90 days pending the calculation of refunds in another CIT case brought by Janssen since the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its opinion on appeal. In April, the Federal Circuit upheld Choe-Groves' decision that the active pharmaceutical ingredient imported by Janssen in one of its HIV medications is eligible for duty-free treatment (see 2104260034). Janssen and DOJ requested that Choe-Groves to be assigned to the cases since she presided over the original CIT case (see 2111010072) (Janssen Ortho LLC v. U.S., CIT #13-00052, #14-00094, #14-00198).

The Commerce Department defended its actions to drop its reliance on Malaysian surrogate data in an antidumping duty investigation after the Court of International Trade raised questions over the distortive effects of forced labor in Malaysia. In a brief Nov. 4, Commerce said it was correct to use certain Mexican data instead of the Malaysian data (New American Keg, d/b/a American Keg Co. v. U.S., CIT #20-00008).

CBP did not violate importer Diamond Tools Technology's due process rights when it found that the company evaded antidumping duties on diamond sawblades from China, the Court of International Trade said in an Oct. 29 opinion, made public Nov. 5. However, Judge Timothy Reif did remand the case to CBP, finding that the actual finding of evasion was not supported as there was no "material and false statement" made by DTT. The judge also upheld CBP's authority to find that DTT's entries that pre-dated the start date of a related anti-circumvention inquiry are "covered merchandise."

The Court of International Trade rejected a group of domestic chloropicrin producers' bid to overturn the Commerce Department's revocation of the antidumping duty order on chloropicrin from China. The order was revoked because no party timely responded to the notice of a five-year review of the order. Commerce repeatedly denied the plaintiffs' bid to retroactively extend the deadline to reply to the initiation notice. In the Nov. 8 opinion, Judge Timothy Stanceu said that Commerce did not abuse its discretion in doing so, since there were no "extraordinary circumstances" that caused the delayed filings.

Antidumping duty review petitioner Maverick Tube Corporation's argument's against the Commerce Department's move to rely on the actual costs of prime and non-prime products as reported by the AD respondent misinterprets a key precedential decision, AD respondent Nexteel Co. argued in a Nov. 3 brief at the Court of International Trade. Instead, Commerce complied with the court's orders and the precedent set in this decision made by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit -- Dillinger France S.A. v. United States -- when it reversed the adjustment to the respondent's reported costs (Husteel Co., Ltd. v. U.S., CIT Consol. #19-00112).

The Commerce Department continued to defend its use of adverse facts available relating to China's Export Buyer's Credit Program in a countervailing duty case despite recent claims that it has discredited its position on this program. In a Nov. 2 brief filed at the Court of International Trade, Commerce said that it is not simply compelled to rely on CVD respondents' statements that an alleged subsidy program was not used when a government fails to give information on how the program was administered to the point where verification of non-use is impossible (Both-Well (Taizhou) Steel Fittings v. U.S., CIT #21-00166).

CBP didn't violate diamond sawblade importer Diamond Tool Technology's due process rights when it found that the importer evaded the antidumping duties on the sawblades from China under the Enforce and Protect Act, the Court of International Trade said in an Oct. 29 ruling, made public Nov. 5. However, the court did remand the actual evasion finding back to CBP, having found DTT wasn't required to report "that its diamond sawblades assembled in Thailand consisted of Chinese-origin cores and segments." The court also upheld CBP's finding that DTT's entries that pre-dated the start date of the evasion inquiry are "covered merchandise."

The Commerce Department's decision to reverse the adjustment to an antidumping duty review respondent's reported costs, relying instead on the actual costs of prime and non-prime products as reported by the respondent, complies with the standard set in the Dillinger France v. U.S decision, Commerce said. Replying to the antidumping respondent, Maverick Tube Corporation, in a Nov. 3 reply brief, Commerce said that its position did not require further consideration, but in fact a reversal, to comply with orders from the Court of International Trade (Husteel v. U.S., CIT #19-00112).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit should reverse a Court of International Trade decision that found that CBP's "indirect method" for weighing importer New Image Global's tobacco wraps that included the weight of additives was legally and scientifically valid, New Image argued in its Nov. 1 opening brief. The Federal Circuit should remand the case to instruct the trade court that the original test for weighing the tobacco wraps was valid, the importer said.

The Court of International Trade erred when it took "bypass" liquidations into its consideration of treatment previously afforded importer Kent International's children's bicycle seats, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a Nov. 3 opinion. Remanding the issue to the trade court, a three-judge panel at the Federal Circuit, however, upheld CIT's determination that there was no de facto "established and uniform practice" (EUP) regarding the customs classification of kids' bike seats.