U.S. Court of International Trade Rules Quick Tariff Reviews Overstepped Commerce Dept. Authority

A rule that allowed foreign producers, such as Canadian lumber producers, to quickly apply for lower countervailing duty rates if they weren’t individually investigated by the U.S. Commerce Department in its original duty inquiry has been eliminated in a decision handed down by the U.S. Court of International Trade.

The ruling comes after the U.S. Department of Commerce said it may prospectively raise the current duties on softwood lumber imports from Canada later this year, as part of a trade spat that has gone on for decades between the two countries.

If the remand results are sustained after all appeals, the Department of Commerce will stop conducting expedited reviews, CIT Chief Judge Mark Barnett said, adding that the department didn’t have proper authority.