Richard Cunningham, a long-time Steptoe & Johnson trade lawyer, died at 79, his firm announced. Cunningham spent his entire career of over 50 years at Steptoe, where he handled "some of the most significant U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty cases over the past 50 years," including as lead on the firm's team in a successful Supreme Court case in 2009, Steptoe said. He also helped to launch the careers of many international trade lawyers at Steptoe and others in the trade bar, the firm said. "Dick was a fantastic mentor," said Eric Emerson, co-head of Steptoe's International Trade and Regulatory Group. "Dick is the best international trade lawyer that I ever saw," said Gary N. Horlick, former head of Import Administration at the Commerce Department and prior to that a lawyer with Steptoe. "He'd get this glint in his eye when he knew what it would take for his client to win -- and when you saw it, you knew you were about to hear something wonderful."
The World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body agreed to set up two new dispute panels to examine Russian measures disrupting EU access to procurement by state-related entities and the Dominican Republic's antidumping duties on corrugated steel bars from Costa Rica, the WTO said. The panels were agreed to at the Dec. 20 meeting of the DSB. The EU requested the panel over Russia's procurement measures, while Costa Rica requested the panel over the Dominican Republic's antidumping duties. The EU's panel request was the second attempt after Russia blocked its first request in November. While stating its regrets that the EU decided to further pursue the establishment of a panel, Russia said that it is confident its measures fully comply with the WTO's regulations. The same is true of Costa Rica's panel request, as its first bid was thwarted by the Dominican Republic.
Aluminum industry trade group European Aluminum, filed two lawsuits with the European Union General Court to challenge the nine-month suspension of the antidumping duties on aluminum flat-rolled products from China, the trade association said in a Dec. 20 press release. The group called the suspension "unjustified" and pointed to the alleged "damaging impact" such a move can have on the European industry. The first case challenges the suspension decision from the European Commission itself, while the second goes after the non-collection of the provisional antidumping duties that were already imposed at the time of the suspension.
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices Dec. 22-23 on AD/CV duty proceedings:
Tongue-and-grooved solid sawn wood planking sold as exterior siding and also used as interior covering for walls and ceilings is not subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on wood mouldings and millwork from China, as long as it is not finger-jointed or laminated veneer lumber (LVL), the Commerce Department said in two recent scope rulings.
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
Importer TR International Trading Company's imports of citric acid anhydrous is not subject to the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on citric acid from China, and CBP was wrong to liquidate the entries as such, TRI said in a Dec. 22 complaint at the Court of International Trade. Seeking to get the court to rule against CBP's decision to liquidate its entries as being from China and not from India, TRI also blasted a Customs Laboratory's role in the process (TR International Trading Company v. United States, CIT #19-00217).
Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng said her government has filed notice that it is bringing a state-to-state dispute under USMCA over the increase in antidumping and countervailing duties on most Canadian softwood lumber exports. The Commerce Department issued the final results of the reviews in November (see 2112020026).
The Commerce Department found that importer Star Pipe Products' 11 ductile iron flanges are not subject to the antidumping duty order on cast iron pipe fittings from China, in Dec. 22 remand results submitted to the Court of International Trade, though it did so under protest (Star Pipe Products v. United States, CIT #17-00236).
The Court of International Trade on Dec. 22 again remanded the Commerce Department's second remand results in the antidumping duty investigation of steel nails from Oman. The second remand results had been filed in response to a Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit opinion that said Commerce didn't adequately explain its reliance on a financial statement from Hitech Fastener Manufacturer (Thailand) Co. -- a third-country company -- to calculate constructed-value profit since Commerce didn't adequately consider whether Hitech had received countervailable subsidies. CIT Judge Mark Barnett found Commerce's decision to stick with Hitech's financial statement wasn't in compliance with the Federal Circuit.