T-Mobile got a stay from the U.S. District Court for Northern California in the carrier’s lawsuit against the California Public Utilities Commission. T-Mobile asked the court to pause its review of the CPUC’s USF contribution overhaul until the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals resolves the carrier’s appeal of the district court’s March 31 preliminary injunction denial (see 2305160003). The CPUC didn’t oppose. “In light of the statement of non-opposition, the court grants the motion to stay,” wrote Judge Laurel Beeler in a text entry in case 3:23-cv-00483-LB. The court sets a status hearing for May 16 at 11 a.m. “and will continue the stay if the Ninth Circuit has not ruled,” Beeler said.
In a vote late on May 24, 214 members of the House of Representatives voted to override President Joe Biden's veto of a resolution that aimed to end the two-year pause on anti-circumvention deposits for some solar panel imports from Southeast Asia. There were 205 members who voted to continue the policy, and Congress needs a two-thirds majority to override a veto.
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.
President Joe Biden informed the House of Representatives that he vetoed their resolution that aimed to end a two-year pause on anti-circumvention duties for panels and cells from some Chinese companies with manufacturing in Southeast Asian countries.
T-Mobile and the California Public Utilities Commission disagreed whether the U.S. District Court of Northern California should go ahead with a review of the CPUC’s USF contribution overhaul (case 3:23-cv-00483). T-Mobile wants the district court to pause the case until the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals resolves the carrier’s appeal of the district court denying preliminary injunction (case 23-15490), said a joint case management statement filed Thursday. If the court wants, T-Mobile is prepared to file a motion seeking to hold the case in abeyance, it said. The CPUC wants to proceed on the merits now, said the filing: The agency doesn't think the 9th Circuit review will provide much guidance for the district court's merits review. The agency plans to seek dismissal and suggests the district court set a deadline for such a motion at a May 11 case management conference, it said. T-Mobile and subsidiaries Monday filed their opening brief in the 9th Circuit case (see 2305020038).
The Senate passed a resolution to end the duty waiver on solar panels from Southeast Asia that the Commerce Department says circumvent antidumping and countervailing duties, but the president has promised to veto the resolution.
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.
A majority in the House voted to restore antidumping and countervailing duties on Southeast Asian solar panels ruled by the Commerce Department to be circumventing antidumping duties on the products from China, but the 221 votes in favor are far from a veto-proof majority.
FCC Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin continued the FCC’s hearing proceeding on Standard/Tegna until June 1 -- effectively pausing it -- and denied broadcaster requests to limit additional discovery, said attorneys representing both sides in the case. Halprin made the ruling at a status conference at the FCC Wednesday that had been set to determine the deal’s schedule, attorneys said. The Standard/Tegna broadcasters requested an accelerated hearing schedule with no additional discovery (see 2304200060), but Halprin denied that request Wednesday. Standard General didn’t comment on the ruling, but the Standard/Tegna broadcast parties have steadfastly said the deal can’t be extended past May 22 due to the expiration of financing that can’t be replaced (see 2304180074). With a quick hearing out of reach, the FCC's reversing itself and voting the deal is likely the only road left to the broadcasters, attorneys said. The broadcasters are expected to try to put pressure on the agency through Congress, multiple attorneys said. “Until more recently, this summer, we never had a lobbyist in D.C.,” Managing Partner Soohyung Kim said last week at the NAB Show. “Now we are employing like half of D.C.” In a news release Wednesday, Standard General highlighted remarks from Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., Tuesday saying he won’t support FCC nominees “if they are unwilling to support diversity -- including by acting in a way that denies a vote to a diverse applicant.” FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks -- the only commissioner yet to take a public stance on the deal -- is likely soon to be up for renomination. In a joint statement Wednesday, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, National Action Network, the National Urban League and UnidosUS urged the FCC to hold a commission vote on the deal. “As FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said in a recent speech on diversity in media: ‘We need to do better,’" the release said. “We will not call on the Commissioners to cast their votes one way or the other. But what we do demand is fair and equal treatment,” the civil rights groups said. “And, so far, ‘fair and equal treatment’ has not been the order of the day.” Starks didn’t comment.
Although President Joe Biden has threatened to veto a resolution that would retroactively collect trade remedies on some solar panels from Southeast Asia with Chinese inputs, several Democratic senators said they would vote for the resolution if it came up in the Senate. Biden had put a pause on the duties through June 2024, and announced the action before the Commerce Department made its preliminary finding that certain solar panels made in Southeast Asia should be considered of Chinese origin, and are circumventing antidumping and countervailing duties on Chinese solar cells.