The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of July 25-31:

DOJ asked the U.S. Court of International Trade, in a motion Monday on behalf of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, for permission to correct the administrative record in the Section 301 litigation to include 136 pages of documents not previously submitted in the cases. Virtually all the documents previously were in the public domain, and they include mostly news releases and Federal Register notices announcing USTR actions connected with the imposition of the four rounds of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports dating to 2018. USTR “was aware of the facts contained in all these documents, such that those facts were considered when making the challenged decisions” about imposing the Lists 3 and 4A tariffs, said the agency: “Upon drafting the remand results as ordered by the Court, the USTR has determined that additional documents either were indirectly considered in the process of issuing the contested determinations, or they were issued in conjunction with the contested determinations, such that they should be part of the administrative record.” The remand results themselves, to address what the court in April found to be Administrative Procedure Act violations at USTR in the deficient way in which it imposed the Lists 3 and 4A tariffs, were due at the court by the close of business Aug. 1. The DOJ said it reached out Thursday to Matthew Nicely and Pratik Shah, lead Akin Gump attorneys for test-case plaintiffs HMTX Industries and Jasco Products, to gauge their position on the motion. According to the DOJ, Nicely and Shah said they “take no position on the motion, on the understanding that the Government has forfeited reliance on documents not cited in its previous merits briefing to this Court.” Nicely didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

DOJ asked the Court of International Trade in an Aug. 1 motion on behalf of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative for permission to correct the administrative record in the Section 301 litigation to include 136 pages of documents not previously submitted in the cases. Virtually all the documents previously were in the public domain, and they include mostly news releases and Federal Register notices announcing USTR actions connected with the imposition of the four rounds of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports dating to 2018.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative often found itself weighing the possible harm to U.S. consumers from the lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariffs against the need to give the duties enough teeth to curb China’s allegedly unfair trade practices, the agency said in its 90-page “remand determination,” filed Aug. 1 at the Court of International Trade (In Re Section 301 Cases, CIT #21-00052). Submitting its bid to ease the court's concerns over modifications made to the third and fourth tariff waves, USTR provided its justifications for removing various goods from the tariff lists ranging from critical minerals to seafood products.

President Joe Biden on his 140-minute call Thursday with President Xi Jinping explained to the Chinese leader the administration’s “core concerns with China’s unfair economic practices, which harm American workers and harm American families,” a senior administration official told reporters Thursday in a background briefing. But Biden on the call “did not discuss any potential steps he might take” to remove or reduce the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports, said the official. “It would be wrong to believe that somehow a decision on any next steps was somehow waiting for this conversation.” On Taiwan, Biden “underscored” to Xi that the U.S. opposes “unilateral changes to the status quo by either side, and commitment to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” said the official. The two leaders discussed that the U.S. and China “have differences when it comes to Taiwan, but that they have managed those for over 40 years and that keeping an open line of communication on this issue is essential to doing so,” said the official.

President Joe Biden on his 140-minute call Thursday with President Xi Jinping explained to the Chinese leader the administration’s “core concerns with China’s unfair economic practices, which harm American workers and harm American families,” a senior administration official told reporters Thursday in a background briefing. But Biden on the call “did not discuss any potential steps he might take” to remove or reduce the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports, said the official. “It would be wrong to believe that somehow a decision on any next steps was somehow waiting for this conversation.” On Taiwan, Biden “underscored” to Xi that the U.S. opposes “unilateral changes to the status quo by either side, and commitment to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” said the official. The two leaders discussed that the U.S. and China “have differences when it comes to Taiwan, but that they have managed those for over 40 years and that keeping an open line of communication on this issue is essential to doing so,” said the official.

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

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

Although President Joe Biden criticized President Donald Trump's China tariffs on the campaign trail, Peterson Institute for International Economics Senior Fellow Chad Bown said he always thought it was unlikely Biden would roll any of them back, because there are "huge political costs" to doing so, because opponents could label you as "weak on China."