A case filed on September 10th has causes a cascade of filings in the Court of International Trade in the past few days. The HMTX case, brought by an importer of vinyl tile from China, challenges the procedures used by the Administration in imposing 25 percent added tariffs on goods in Lists 3 and 4A. As of Saturday, more than 2000 cases had been filed on Friday and Saturday making allegations similar to those of the HMTX lawsuit.
The putative date for filing is Monday, September 21st which is two years after the date of the Federal Register publication on September 21, 2018 imposing the tariffs on these product lists. Thus, a two-year window applies for filing under the Administrative Procedures Act. Some have concluded that it was September 18th, given the intervening weekend and the view that Monday, September 21 would be a day outside the two-year window for bringing a case; others postulate that it the deadline for filing at the Court is actually Thursday, September 24th as that would be two years from the date the List 3 tariffs became effective.
Anyone with further interest in the China 301 matter please contact us at 202-302-1652.
Robin W. Grover
