The Commerce Department reasonably used adverse facts available against respondent Kumar Industries for failing to respond to the best of its ability in demonstrating that it's not affiliated with two unnamed companies, the Court of International Trade held on April 23. Judge Gary Katzmann held that Commerce's request for information on the alleged affiliations "should not have come as a surprise," adding that it's the respondent's burden to sufficiently populate the record.

Twelve U.S. states led by Oregon filed a lawsuit April 23 against all of President Donald Trump's tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The states' complaint argues that Trump exceeded his authority as established in IEEPA, since the "annual U.S. goods trade deficits" are not an "unusual and extraordinary threat." The states also argue that neither the reciprocal tariffs, nor the tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico imposed to address drug trafficking, establish a sufficient nexus to the claimed emergencies (The State of Oregon v. Donald J. Trump, CIT # 25-00077).

Four wheel exporters will appeal a February Court of International Trade decision sustaining the inclusion of trailer wheels made of Chinese rims and Thai discs in the scope of the antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders on steel trailer wheels from China. Filing four notices of appeal, exporters Asia Wheel Co., Lionshead Specialty Tire and Wheel, Trailstar and Dexter Distribution Group f/k/a Textrail said they will take the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In the case, CIT Judge Gary Katzmann said that Commerce didn't illegally expand the scope of the orders since the agency left open the possibility in the original AD/CVD investigations to discuss mixed-origin wheels in a later scope ruling (see 2502210039) (Asia Wheel Co. v. United States, CIT Consol. # 23-00096).

The Court of International Trade ruled April 22 that filling out a single mandatory importer questionnaire response at the beginning of an International Trade Commission injury investigation isn’t enough for an importer to establish itself as a party to the proceeding.

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Hoshine Silicon (Jia Xiang) Industry Co. has constitutional and statutory standing to challenge a withhold release order on silica-based products made by its parent company, Hoshine Silicon, or its subsidiaries, the Court of International Trade held in a decision made public April 22. However, Judge Claire Kelly dismissed Jiaxing Hoshine's claim against CBP's issuance of the WRO for being untimely, finding that it was brought after the statute of limitations had run out.

The Court of International Trade on April 23 denied exporter Kumar Industries' challenge to the 2021-22 review of the antidumping duty order on glycine from China, India and Japan. Judge Gary Katzmann said the Commerce Department reasonably used adverse facts available against Kumar for its failure to respond to the best of its ability in establishing that it's not affiliated with two unnamed companies. The judge also sustained Commerce's decision to deduct antidumping and countervailing duties from Kumar's U.S. price for only three transactions, given evidence showing that Kumar didn't include AD/CVD for these sales.

The Court of International Trade on April 22 denied a group of five companies' application for a temporary restraining order against President Donald Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Judges Gary Katzmann, Timothy Reif and Jane Restani held that the companies "have not clearly shown a likelihood that immediate and irreparable harm would occur" before the court considers their motion for a preliminary injunction against the tariffs.

Importers van Gelder Inc. and Baker Hughes Pressure Control each dropped their customs suit at the Court of International Trade last week. Van Gelder had filed suit to challenge the classification of its vinyl tiles floor covering, seeking an exclusion from Section 301 China tariffs (see 2405060033). Meanwhile, Baker Hughes had launched its case to claim that its steel parts of Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 7326.90.8588, dutiable at 2.9%, should be classified under subheadings 8481.90.9085 and 8431.43.4000, free of duty (see 2306300068). Counsel for both importers didn't respond to requests for comment (van Gelder Inc. v. United States, CIT # 21-00160) (Baker Hughes Pressure Control v. United States, CIT # 23-00137).

The Court of International Trade on April 19 denied a group of Canadian lumber exporters' bid to have the court explicitly state CBP's obligation to refund countervailing duty cash deposits established by the court in a previous decision. Judge Mark Barnett said the exporters haven't shown that there was any clerical or other mistake in the court's previous order and that "the equities do not favor granting" this requested relief.