225 Plaintiff Importers Urge Biden to Settle Section 301 Litigation

The Biden-Harris administration should settle the massive Section 301 litigation that’s inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade and “alleviate the economic and social harms” the Lists 3 and 4A tariffs have caused to U.S. companies, workers and the “overall U.S. economy,” about 225 of the litigation’s more than 6,000 plaintiffs wrote President Joe Biden May 7. All the cases allege the tariffs violate the 1974 Trade Act and the 1946 Administrative Procedure Act and should be vacated and the duties refunded, said the letter. Plaintiffs are confident the court “will agree,” it said. HMTX Industries and Jasco Products, plaintiffs in the court’s designated Section 301 sample case, were lead signatories to the letter, signed mostly by small importers, but also big companies, including HP, Volkswagen and TCT Mobile, TCL’s smartphone subsidiary. Akin Gump attorneys for HMTX-Jasco declined comment Wednesday, but they made no secret in court proceedings of their desire to see the litigation move forward as expeditiously as possible because the tariffs continue to be a daily burden on importers with Lists 3 and 4A exposure. We learned that a draft of the letter was circulated to plaintiffs about a month ago, but many declined to sign because they viewed a White House settlement agreement to refund billions in paid tariffs as a long shot. Others never had the opportunity to review the draft. The White House didn’t comment.