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

At a hearing on supply chain challenges, the committee chairman described deregulation and disinvestment as two root causes, panelists cited overregulation and labor shortages, and there was intense disagreement between the parties on whether the surge in demand for imports was the result of foolish policy or wise economic support for households during the pandemic.

The China package passed by the Senate -- which includes instructions to reopen Section 301 tariff exclusion applications, and a renewal of both the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill -- will go to a conference committee to reconcile the Senate bill with various pieces of House legislation, one of which changes the burden of proof on goods from Xinjiang. None of the House bills touches on tariffs, and none offers funding for chipmakers, a centerpiece of the Senate bill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. had earlier planned to attach the China package to the must-past National Defense Authorization Act, but after Republican opposition, they decided this was a better way to get the House-Senate talks going.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative posted a list on its website of the 18 Section 301 tariff exclusions for COVID treatment products that are set to expire Nov. 30 (see 2111100037).

The 1974 Trade Act “does not authorize” the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to increase the “original” Section 301 Lists 1 and 2 tariffs on Chinese goods under the “circumstances present” in the Lists 3 and 4A duties, argued Akin Gump lawyers for sample case plaintiffs HMTX Industries and Jasco Products in their final written brief Monday at the U.S. Court of International Trade before the litigation moves to oral argument Feb. 1. HMTX and Jasco, plus the thousands of complaints their September 2020 lawsuit sparked, seek to get the tariffs thrown out and the paid duties refunded with interest.

The 1974 Trade Act “does not authorize” the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to increase the “original” Section 301 lists 1 and 2 tariffs on Chinese goods under the “circumstances present” in the lists 3 and 4A duties, argued Akin Gump lawyers for sample case plaintiffs HMTX Industries and Jasco Products, in their final written brief Nov. 15 at the Court of International Trade before the litigation moves to oral argument Feb. 1, 2022. HMTX and Jasco, plus the thousands of complaints their September 2020 lawsuit sparked, seek to get the lists 3 and 4A tariffs thrown out and the paid duties refunded with interest.

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

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 8-14:

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Nov. 8-12 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, acknowledging that removing Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods would make some difference in inflation, didn't directly answer a question about whether they should stay, but said that U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is "revisiting the phase one trade deal and recognizing requests to reduce tariffs in some areas." During a "Face the Nation" appearance Nov. 14, Yellen was also asked what the Biden administration could do to unclog the supply chain. "We have been talking with the operators of ports in Los Angeles, in Long Beach, in Savannah, trying to understand why there are such backlogs of ships waiting to off-load their goods."