This morning in metals news: the US Court of International Trade issued a Section 232-related ruling; General Motors announced the manufacturing locations of its first-ever Chevrolet Silverado electric pickup and GMC Hummer EV SUV; and, lastly, top copper producer Chile closed borders.
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USCIT rules in favor of plaintiff in Section 232 derivatives case
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The US Court of International Trade (USCIT) has typically rejected challenges to former President Donald Trump’s Section 232 tariffs.
This week, however, the court ruled in favor of a plaintiff who contested Trump’s expansion of the tariffs to cover steel and aluminum derivatives.
With Proclamation 9980 on Jan. 24, 2020, Trump expanded the Section 232 duties to cover steel and aluminum derivatives.
In this case, PrimeSource Building Products Inc. contested the duties.
“To declare Proclamation 9980 invalid, we must find ‘a clear misconstruction of the governing statute, a significant procedural violation, or action outside delegated authority,'” the USCIT explained. “Because the President issued Proclamation 9980 after the congressionally-delegated authority to adjust imports of the products addressed in that proclamation had expired, Proclamation 9980 was action outside of delegated authority.”
The USCIT awarded summary judgment to PrimeSource on the second count of its complaint.
“As relief on this claim, we will declare Proclamation 9980 invalid as contrary to law and, on that basis, direct that the entries affected by this litigation be liquidated without the assessment of duties pursuant to Proclamation 9980, with refund of any deposits for such duty liability that may have been collected pursuant to Proclamation 9980,” the court stated in its conclusion.