On February 5, 2021, Chief Judge Timothy C. Stanceu, of the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT), issued an order assigning the pending court cases that have been filed to challenge the imposition of additional duties on goods from China under Section 301 (“List 3” and “List 4A”) to a three-judge panel.  While three-judge panels are fairly rare in the CIT, the chief judge has discretion to make such an assignment when a case has broad or significant implications in the administration or interpretation of the law.  To date, nearly 4,000 court actions have been filed in this matter, making this the largest challenge ever brought before the CIT and assignment to a three-judge panel was expected and had been urged by plaintiffs.

The three-judge panel is comprised of the three most senior active judges on the CIT (excepting Chief Judge Stanceu).  The panel consists of Judge Mark A. Barnett, Judge Claire R. Kelly, and Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves.

Now that the cases have been assigned, we expect the CIT to issue an order specifying steps for how the litigation will proceed.  It is likely that a case management conference will be convened and that a formal plaintiffs’ steering committee will be established.

GDLSK has been active in an informal plaintiffs’ steering committee that has been operating since these cases were first brought in September 2020.  GDLSK, having filed the greatest number of these cases of any firm, and having been identified by the U.S. Department of Justice as one of three firms that should be part of the steering committee, is well-positioned to impact the direction of the litigation and we are on alert as to any case developments.

Should you have any questions regarding this case, please contact one of our attorneys.