CBP improperly classified importer AB Specialty Silicones' specialty silicone chemicals as organic-silicone compounds instead of as silicone compounds or organo-inorganic compounds, AB argued in an April 16 complaint at the Court of International Trade (AB Specialty Silicones v. United States, CIT # 25-00067).

The Court of International Trade dismissed exporter Hoshine Silicon (Jia Xiang) Industry Co.'s challenge to CBP's issuance of a withhold release order on silica-based products made by its parent company Hoshine Silicon or its subsidiaries. However, in a confidential decision issued on April 16, Judge Claire Kelly denied the government's motion to dismiss Hoshine's second claim, which contested CBP's refusal to modify the WRO (Hoshine Silicon (Jia Xing) Industry Co. v. United States, CIT # 24-00048).

After a remand by Court of International Trade Judge Claire Kelly (see 2412170041), the Commerce Department again found in a countervailing duty administrative review’s final results that South Korea’s provision of off-peak electricity for less than adequate remuneration was specific to the country’s steel industry (Hyundai Steel Co. v. United States, CIT # 23-00211).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 14 denied court-appointed amicus Andrew Dhuey access to confidential filings in an appeal on the International Trade Commission's treatment of business proprietary information. Judge Evan Wallach said Dhuey "has not shown" that access to this information is "necessary for him to file his proposed amicus brief." The judge said the motion is "denied without prejudice to Mr. Dhuey raising arguments" on "why access to particular confidential information cited in the United States’ brief is needed to assist the court" (In Re United States, Fed. Cir. # 24-1566).

The Court of International Trade on April 15 denied importer Under the Weather's motion for leave to amend its complaint to add a claim regarding CBP's prior tariff treatment of its imported pop-up tent "pods." Judge Timothy Reif said the proposed amended complaint "was filed after undue delay and is futile."

The following lawsuit was filed recently at the Court of International Trade:

The U.S. and plaintiff Tokyo Ohka Kogyo America filed April 10 a stipulated judgment for a 2017 case involving a dispute over the classification of certain photoresists (Toykyo Ohka Kogyo America v. United States, CIT # 17-00070).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 11 invited the Court of International Trade to respond to the government's petition for writ of mandamus regarding the trade court's recent decision finding the commission's practice of automatically redacting questionnaire responses to be unlawful (see 2503270057). In a per curiam order, CAFC invited Judge Stephen Vaden, the author of the opinion, to respond no later than April 22. The court said any reply in support of the petition is due "no later than seven days after the last-filed response." The U.S. filed its mandamus bid last week, asking the appellate court to order the trade court to retain the commission's designation of information as business proprietary information unless the submitting party consents to disclosure (In re United States, Fed. Cir. # 25-127).

Petitioner Nucor filed an opening brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 7 challenging a trade court ruling that favored exporter KG Dongbu Steel, the mandatory respondent in a 2019 countervailing duty administrative review on corrosion-resistant steel products from Korea. It said the Commerce Department had “plainly satisfied” the legal standard for changing its position from one review to another (Nucor Corp. v. KG Dongbu Steel Co., Fed. Cir. # 25-1411).

The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices April 14 on AD/CVD proceedings: