US importers to appeal trade court’s ruling in favour of Trump-era China tariffs
- A three-judge panel from the US Court of International Trade has rejected importers’ arguments that the duties were wrongfully imposed
- Plaintiffs in the case opposed the Office of the US Trade Representative’s approach to adding tariffs of 7.5 to 25 per cent on Chinese imports
American importers will challenge a US trade court’s ruling last week that favoured former US president Donald Trump’s 2018 imposition of higher tariffs on Chinese goods.
“We are disappointed with the decision,” Harlan Stone, chief executive of HMTX Industries, a Connecticut-based manufacturer of vinyl tiles, said on Tuesday. “Because of the American judicial system, we are able to appeal their decision. And it is our intention to do so.”
HMTX Industries is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, which was filed in the US Court of International Trade in September 2020, opposing the Office of the US Trade Representative’s approach to adding tariffs of 7.5 to 25 per cent on Chinese imports, worth US$300 billion. By 2022, the court had attached more than 4,000 similar lawsuits filed by other American importers to the case.
On Friday, the court rejected the argument that the federal agency had not exercised its discretion in assessing the damaging effects of additional levies on the US economy by simply deferring to the president’s orders.
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The three judges hearing the case wrote that the plaintiffs had not persuaded the court that the USTR was “required to provide additional explanation” on the “reasons for agreeing with the president that the chosen actions were appropriate”.