Court of International Trade Judge Timothy Reif on April 22 granted a motion to dismiss importer Pay Less’ challenge to the International Trade Commission’s affirmative critical circumstances finding regarding Burmese-origin mattresses. The importer never filed an entry of appearance in the underlying injury investigation, and it overall failed to clear the “low bar” required to establish itself as a party to the proceeding, he ruled (Pay Less Here v. U.S. International Trade Commission, CIT # 24-00152).

The Court of International Trade on April 21 remanded a Commerce Department scope ruling that found a paint sprayer nozzle importer’s products weren’t heat sinks and thus weren't exempt from antidumping duty orders on aluminum extrusions from China. The department “added a new requirement” to the five-factor test identifying heat sinks, saying that an import can't be dual-purpose, CIT Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves said (Wagner Spray Tech Corp. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00241).

The Court of International Trade denied a motion from five importers to put an emergency block on President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, in an order issued late on April 22. CIT Judges Jane Restani, Gary Katzmann and Timothy Reif ruled the five importers haven’t shown that “immediate and irreparable harm” would result from not issuing a temporary restraining order while the court considers the importers’ request for a longer-lasting preliminary injunction.

In a sur-reply supporting its motion for judgment (see 2410220026), surety company Aegis Security Insurance said it was responding to several new arguments the U.S. raised in a reply defending CBP’s 2016 attempt to collect unpaid duties that had been outstanding since 2002 (see 2503210069) (United States v. Aegis Security Insurance, CIT # 22-00327).

The U.S. moved to transfer the State of California's lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's authority to issue tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to the Court of International Trade. With the April 17 motion, the government has now moved to transfer all three cases filed in federal district courts to the trade court (State of California v. Donald J. Trump, N.D. Cal. # 3:25-03372).

The Commerce Department's inclusion of Export Packers Company's imported garlic in the antidumping duty order on fresh garlic isn't backed by substantial evidence, the Court of International Trade held on April 18. Judge Jane Restani said that Commerce's focus on two prior scope rulings concerning garlic blanched in boiling water is "misplaced" and that the agency's remaining (k)(2) analysis is "similarly flawed."

The Court of International Trade on April 18 upheld the International Trade Commission's preliminary negative injury determination on aluminum extrusions from the Dominican Republic. Judge Lisa Wang rejected all three claims from petitioners U.S. Aluminum Extruders Coalition and United Steelworkers, which challenged the ITC's conclusions that the Dominican imports were negligible, there was "no likelihood of contrary evidence to arise in the final phase which would warrant a non-negligibility determination" and the Dominican imports didn't have the "potential to exceed the negligibility threshold in the imminent future."

The three judges assigned to the case challenging President Donald Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act -- Jane Restani, Gary Katzmann and Timothy Reif -- may be poised to rein in the administration's use of the act to impose tariffs, various attorneys told us. Based on their prior jurisprudence and professional backgrounds, the attorneys said, it seems likely the trio may pare back Trump's tariff-setting authority, though it's ultimately unclear to what extent.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 21 held to a strict interpretation of the principle of finality of liquidation, ruling that the Court of International Trade can't consider equitable reasons for ordering reliquidation of finally liquidated entries. Judges Richard Taranto and Raymond Chen said the trade court can't order reliquidation beyond the statutory exceptions, which specifically refer to filing a protest with CBP or a civil action at the trade court. Judge Jimmie Reyna dissented from the ruling, arguing that the majority misapprehends CBP's protest procedures and improperly limits "CIT’s authority to enforce its judgments to a level that is inferior" to the full authority of an Article III court.

The Court of International Trade ruled April 21 almost completely in favor of sink importer R.H. Peterson, finding that most of the disputed components for, and all of the value added to, the importer’s sinks shouldn’t have been included in the sinks’ dutiable value. Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves held that the U.S. was allowed in this instance to adopt a position contrary to CBP’s during the administrative proceeding. She also refused to award attorneys fees, saying the importer hadn’t provided an adequate explanation as to why the government’s litigation position had been unjustified (R.H. Peterson v. U.S., CIT # 20-00099).