Federal Circuit Denies Bid for Full Court Rehearing in Key Section 232 Case

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied steel importer Transpacific Steel's motion for a full court rehearing of a panel decision to uphold President Donald Trump's Section 232 tariff hike on Turkish steel, in a Sept. 24 order. Transpacifc, along with several Turkish steel makers, moved for the panel rehearing and rehearing en banc, arguing that the panel's majority failed to impose the congressionally mandated limitations to the president's power in Section 232. Also, the petition argued that the majority improperly rejected the plaintiff appellees' equal protection claims (see 2108250022) (Transpacific Steel LLC, et al. v. United States, Fed. Cir. #20-2157).

A July opinion in the case found that the president may impose greater Section 232 national security tariffs beyond the 105-day time frame for action set out in the statute (see 2107130059). The Federal Circuit said that the underlying law's deadline for the president to take "action" can refer to a "plan of action" carried out over a period of time after the procedural time limits.