CIT Says USTR Had Authority to Impose Retaliatory Section 301 Tariffs, Remands to Respond to Comments

The Court of International Trade dealt a blow to the over 3,600 lawsuits challenging Lists 3 and 4A Section 301 China tariffs covering over $200 billion in goods, finding that the U.S. Trade Representative had the authority to impose the tariffs. In the highly-anticipated opinion, the court ruled against the plaintiffs' argument that the USTR could not impose Section 301 tariffs because the government was responding to retaliatory tariffs from China.

The opinion was not a complete loss for the importers, however, as the trade court sent the matter back to USTR after ruling that the agency failed to adequately respond to comments submitted in advance of the tariffs. A three-judge panel at the court ruled that the tariffs may remain in place while the agency reconsiders its action pertaining to these comments. USTR now has until June 30 to return to the court with a response to the remand.