n a win for GDLSK client Mirror Metals, Inc., the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) remanded the U.S. Department of Commerce’s earlier denial of 63 requests to exclude flat-rolled stainless-steel products from tariffs imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
Mirror Metals, an importer of specialized flat-rolled stainless steel, had submitted 63 exclusion requests covering three finishes of stainless steel it imports for customers in North America. Commerce denied every request, concluding in each case that a domestic objector could meet the required quality, quantity, and timeliness criteria. However, the CIT found that Commerce accepted the objector’s boilerplate statements without requiring the specificity the regulations demand and separately failed to explain why it disregarded rebuttal evidence Mirror Metals submitted showing the objector could not actually produce the requested products domestically. The court remanded Commerce’s determinations for reconsideration or further explanation, with a decision due within 90 days.
GDLSK partner Erik Smithweiss and associates Katherine A. Dobscha and Sarah E. Raymond represented Mirror Metals in the win. The full decision, which was covered by Law360, is available here.
