Chief Judge Mark Barnett of the U.S. Court of International Trade signed an administrative order Wednesday that will automatically stay any new complaints filed in the massive Section 301 litigation before they can be assigned to the three-judge panel he shares with Judges Claire Kelly and Jennifer Choe-Groves. Any lawyer seeking to lift the stay of a new Section 301 case must first consult with the plaintiffs' steering committee at least three days before filing a motion and must show "good cause" for the exemption, said the order. The court expects to determine the "appropriate next steps" for dealing with the new cases after the first-filed HMTX-Jasco sample case is resolved, it said. Barnett told Monday's status conference that he has been "monitoring the ongoing trickle of additional 301 cases.” Though the court has continued assigning the new cases to the three-judge panel, and all the cases have been stayed until HMTX-Jasco is resolved, “I do worry about the possibility, at least, of some future case creating a conflict that could require one or more of us to have to recuse,” he said of himself and fellow panel members. New Section 301 complaints continue coming in at the rate of about one a day. All the roughly 3,700 cases allege the List 3 and 4A tariffs on Chinese goods are unlawful and should be refunded. The 34-minute status conference was largely procedural and dispatched with a number of what Barnett called "housekeeping items." It was convened amid DOJ’s opposition to the refund relief importers seek, if they prevail in the litigation, on liquidated customs entries from China with List 3 and 4A tariff exposure (see 2104250002). HMTX-Jasco attorneys from Akin Gump seek a “protective” injunction to freeze unliquidated imports from being liquidated. DOJ’s response to the injunction motion is due May 14.

Chief Judge Mark Barnett of the U.S. Court of International Trade signed an administrative order Wednesday that will automatically stay any new complaints filed in the massive Section 301 litigation before they can be assigned to the three-judge panel he shares with Judges Claire Kelly and Jennifer Choe-Groves. Any lawyer seeking to lift the stay of a new Section 301 case must first consult with the plaintiffs' steering committee at least three days before filing a motion and must show "good cause" for the exemption, said the order. The court expects to determine the "appropriate next steps" for dealing with the new cases after the first-filed HMTX-Jasco sample case is resolved, it said. Barnett told Monday's status conference that he has been "monitoring the ongoing trickle of additional 301 cases.” Though the court has continued assigning the new cases to the three-judge panel, and all the cases have been stayed until HMTX-Jasco is resolved, “I do worry about the possibility, at least, of some future case creating a conflict that could require one or more of us to have to recuse,” he said of himself and fellow panel members. New Section 301 complaints continue coming in at the rate of about one a day. All the roughly 3,700 cases allege the List 3 and 4A tariffs on Chinese goods are unlawful and should be refunded. The 34-minute status conference was largely procedural and dispatched with a number of what Barnett called "housekeeping items." It was convened amid DOJ’s opposition to the refund relief importers seek, if they prevail in the litigation, on liquidated customs entries from China with List 3 and 4A tariff exposure (see 2104250002). HMTX-Jasco attorneys from Akin Gump seek a “protective” injunction to freeze unliquidated imports from being liquidated. DOJ’s response to the injunction motion is due May 14.

A newly issued CBP ruling further clarifies how the agency determines country of origin for electric motors. After having recently found that the stator and the rotor are the “most essential components” of an electric motor and, under a substantial transformation analysis, determine the country of origin (see 2104210041), the agency on April 22 issued another ruling that considered motors where the rotor and stator were made in different countries, and found the stator assembly controlling.

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

Chief Judge Mark Barnett of the Court of International Trade signed an administrative order April 28 that will automatically stay any new complaints filed in the massive Section 301 litigation before they are assigned to the three-judge panel he shares with Judges Claire Kelly and Jennifer Choe-Groves. Any lawyer seeking to lift the stay of a new Section 301 case must first consult with the plaintiffs' steering committee at least three days before filing a motion and must show “good cause” for the exemption, the order said.

The International Trade Commission on April 26 issued Revision 3 to the 2021 Basic Edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The only change was the addition of language to apply Section 301 exclusions to goods on the water in May-June 2019 at the time an increase in the tariffs, from 10% to 25%, was announced (see 2104230047). U.S. Note 20(l) to Subchapter III of Chapter 99 is amended to add the following: “the product exclusions provided by headings 9903.88.13, 9903.88.18, 9903.88.33, 9903.88.34, 9903.88.35, 9903.88.36, 9903.88.37, 9903.88.38, 9903.88.40, 9903.88.41, 9903.88.43, 9903.88.45, 9903.88.46 and 9903.88.48 shall apply to articles the product of China that were entered under heading 9903.88.09 and that are provided for in this subdivision." A compiler’s note says: “The last sentence of this paragraph applied to such articles exported before May 10, 2019, and entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, into the United States on or after May 10, 2019, and before June 15, 2019.”

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai heard many bipartisan complaints about the pain of both Section 301 tariffs and Europe's retaliatory tariffs in response to steel tariffs, but stood her ground on both during a hearing in front of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee responsible for funding the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Court of International Trade Chief Judge Mark Barnett suggested during an April 26 status conference that an automatic stay could be in order for all cases challenging Lists 3 and 4A of the Section 301 tariffs that are unassigned to the three-judge panel. The government defense and the 15-member steering committee representing the plaintiffs did not object. Under Barnett's suggested order, all new cases without assignment to the panel would automatically be stayed and would follow comparable procedures to other cases under the HMTX Industries and Jasco Products test case to lift the stay.

Chief Judge Mark Barnett of the U.S. Court of International Trade signed an administrative order that will automatically stay any new complaints filed in the massive Section 301 litigation before they are assigned to the three-judge panel he shares with Judges Claire Kelly and Jennifer Choe-Groves.

At a webinar on U.S.-Vietnam economic relations, Ambassador Ha Kim Ngoc said Vietnam is working to narrow the trade deficit with the U.S., whether by buying more American agricultural exports or encouraging Vietnamese businesses to open factories in the U.S. "I don’t think we can solve the problem overnight, with COVID-19 and the increased demand of the goods from Southeast Asia, and particularly Vietnam," he said April 27.