US, Importer Settle Claims in Mediation on Denied Section 232 Exclusions

The Court of International Trade on Oct. 1 said court-led mediation in a suit from LE Commodities challenging 14 denied requests for exclusions from Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs resulted in a "settlement of all issues." Judge Leo Gordon led the mediation. Counsel for LE Commodities didn't respond to a request for comment on the nature of the settlement (LE Commodities v. United States, CIT # 22-00245).

LE Commodities took to the trade court to contest the exclusion requests, arguing that the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, in denying the requests, merely "parroted" claims from U.S. steel maker United Industries. The U.S. asked for a voluntary remand to review the requests, though it came to the same conclusions on the exclusions (see 2404080064).

In its remand results, Commerce's International Trade Administration provided an accompanying discussion of the exclusion requests, providing a "satisfactory quality" analysis and a "sufficient and reasonably available amount" analysis. The agency said that after looking at the evidence submitted by LE Commodities, United Industries "meets the quality criterion" and the "timeliness criterion." The matter was referred to mediation in April.