CIT Sets First Defense Deadline, Establishes 'Master Case' in Section 301 Litigation

The Court of International Trade will use a “master case” to reduce the time and expense of duplicate filings in the more than 3,700 lawsuits against President Donald Trump's lists 3 and 4A Section 301 China tariffs, CIT Judge Mark Barnett said in a Feb. 10 order. Barnett also gave the government defense until March 12, 2021, to submit its first defense, barring no motions to extend time to file. These procedural steps pertain to the copious number of Section 301 cases that were assigned to a three-panel judge at CIT on Feb. 5 (see 2102050008).

It would be Department of Justice's first opportunity to defend against allegations that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative overstepped its Section 301 authority when it imposed the retaliatory lists 3 and 4A tariffs against the Chinese and violated the Administrative Procedure Act by conducting tariff rulemakings that lacked transparency. The DOJ filing will “in a 'generic' manner admit or deny (including denials based on lack of information and belief) the allegations typically included in claims made against them as well as make such additional allegations as are appropriate to their defenses,” Barnett said. The response “will constitute an answer in each Section 301 Case now pending or hereafter filed in this court and assigned to this panel, except to the extent the defendants later file a separate answer in an individual case,” he said.

Lawyers previously complained that the DOJ broke court rules when it filed procedural papers only in the docket of the first-filed case (see 2009280018) and not in the dockets of the thousands of cases that followed. According to the Feb. 10 procedural step, when orders, pleadings, motions and other relevant documents are docketed in the master case, it is as if they have been docketed in all the individual cases. However, documents that only relate to a specific case can be filed and must be filed using the individual case's number. The DOJ now does not have to file its response to every single individual lawsuit against it.

Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the order.