The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Sept. 18 issued its mandate in a countervailing duty case after rejecting a motion for rehearing from the governments of Canada and Quebec and exporter Marmen Energie Inc. The parties asked the court to revisit its decision sustaining the countervailability of a Canadian tax program in the CVD investigation on utility scale wind towers from Canada (see 2409120009). The tax program relates to the additional depreciation for certain Class 1 assets. The appellate court said deductions given to Marmen in addition to the standard 4% depreciation rate amount to forgone revenue for the Canadian government (see 2406210031) (Government of Quebec v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 22-1807).

A petitioner supported the U.S. argument (see 2408230020) that the Commerce Department correctly calculated a Canadian lumber review respondent’s costs under the transactions disregarded rule. The Sept. 10 reply brief comes as part of a wide-branching case whose parties include the government of Canada (Government of Canada v. United States, CIT Consol. # 23-00187).

The U.S. and exporters led by Kisaan Die Tech Private Limited told the Court of International Trade on Sept. 19 that they reached a settlement in a suit on the 2018-19 review of the antidumping duty order on stainless steel flanges from India (Kisaan Die Tech Private Limited v. United States, CIT # 21-00512).

The U.S. told the Court of International Trade on Sept. 18 that CBP seized an entry of 7-keto dehydroepiandrosterone at issue in a suit brought by importer UniChem Enterprises (UniChem Enterprises v. United States, CIT # 24-00033).

The U.S. on Sept. 18 brought various claims against the two Singaporean businesses that owned and operated the vessel that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, DOJ announced. The lawsuit looks to recover over $100 million in costs the U.S. incurred over the course of its response to the "fatal disaster" and for "clearing the entangled wreck and bridge debris from the navigable channel so the port could reopen" (In the Matter of the Petition of Grace Ocean Private Limited, D. Md. # 24-00941).

The U.S. pushed back against a paint nozzle importer Sept. 17 in a response to a motion for judgment, in which the importer argued one if its products -- parts of spray nozzles intended to control the flow of liquid paint -- fell into a heat sink manifold exclusion in an antidumping duty order on aluminum extrusions from China (Wagner Spray Tech Corp. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00241).

Three grape grower trade groups filed a complaint on Sept. 13 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenging the Agriculture Department's notice allowing table grapes from Chile to be imported under a "systems approach" as opposed to using the standard fumigation requirements (California Table Grape Commission v. United States Department of Agriculture, D.D.C. # 24-02645).

The Court of International Trade on Sept. 18 sustained the Commerce Department's decision on remand to weight average zero percent and adverse facts available antidumping rates to set the rate for the non-individually examined respondents in the 2016-17 review of the AD order on multilayered wood flooring from China.

The Commerce Department erred in treating fees exporter Finieco Industria e Comercio de Embalagens paid to a U.S. company as a direct expense in the antidumping duty investigation on paper shopping bags from Portugal, Finieco said in a Sept. 17 complaint at the Court of International Trade (Finieco Industria e Comercio de Embalagens v. U.S., CIT # 24-00160).

The U.S. and Kevin Ho, owner and director of importer Atria, have agreed to try and resolve a customs penalty action via stipulated judgment and are now working to negotiate a number Ho will pay, the parties said in a Sept. 16 status report. The development comes after Ho pleaded guilty in a parallel criminal proceeding in which he was sentenced to 18 months in prison (United States v. Chu-Chiang "Kevin" Ho, CIT # 19-00038).