CAFC Gives US 55 More Days to File Reply Brief in Massive Section 301 Case

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in an Oct. 20 order granted the U.S. request for 55 more days to file its reply brief in the massive Section 301 litigation, despite an objection from the plaintiff-appellants, led by HMTX Industries. The government's reply brief is now due Dec. 21 following the extension, which was the second of its kind following a 60-day extension (HMTX Industries v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1891).

The appellants said the extension should have been denied "absent some medical, family, or similar intervening justification," since thousands of companies are still paying the large Section 301 duties (see 2310120025). The U.S. justified its extension by saying the review process "has taken longer than expected and is still ongoing" and involves extension coordination with agencies.

In their opening brief, the appellants made a host of arguments against the imposition of the lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariffs (see 2307180069). The claims included arguments the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative didn't have the authority to set the duties since it was not directly delegated by Congress in violation of the "major questions doctrine," that the statute doesn't allow for duties to be set that are responding to retaliatory duties, and that USTR did not adequately respond to comments on the tariffs. The Court of International Trade upheld the USTR's imposition of the tariffs.