On February 3, 2025, amendments to the International Trade
Commission's (Commission) Rules of Practice and Procedure are
scheduled to take effect.1 The Commission announced the
forthcoming amendments on January 3, 2025, following a period of
notice-and-comment.2 The rule adopts, with minor
exceptions, the amendments proposed by the Commission on March 28,
2024.3
The amendments focus on revising procedures and rules of general
application, safeguards, antidumping and countervailing duty
(AD/CVD) investigations, and section 337 adjudication and
enforcement.4 The Commission described the amendments as
"necessary to make certain technical corrections, to clarify
certain provisions, to harmonize different parts of the
Commission's rules, and to address concerns that have arisen in
Commission practice."5
At a high level, many of the Commission's amendments for
general practice and AD/CVD proceedings are technical in nature:
such as corrections of typographical errors, adoption of
gender-neutral language, the establishment of permanent electronic
filing procedures in lieu of or as an alternative to paper copies,
and allowing witness testimony to be filed the day of
hearings.6 Additionally, the Commission's amendments
clarify the requirements for the content and filing of complaints
with the Commission and align certain discovery rules with the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.7
Footnotes
1 Practice and Procedure: Rules of General Application, Safeguards, Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations, and Section 337 Adjudication and Enforcement, 90 Fed. Reg. 225 (Jan. 3, 2025) (Practice and Procedure). On January 21, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order requesting that all executive departments and agencies consider postponing the effective date for any rules published in the Federal Register or rules which have not yet taken effect for 60 days. Regulatory Freeze Pending Review, (Jan. 20, 2025), https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/regulatory-freeze-pending-review/.
2 Practice and Procedure, 90 Fed. Reg. at 225.
3 Practice and Procedure: Rules of General Application, Safeguards, Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations, and Section 337 Adjudication and Enforcement, 89 Fed. Reg. 22,012 (Mar. 28, 2024).
4 The Commission proposed amendments to its rules governing proceedings conducted under section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1337), as well as Title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930, which comprises 19 U.S.C. 1671-1677n, sections 201-202, 204, and 406 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2251-2252, 2254, and 2436), and sections 301-302 of the United States-Mexico-Canada Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 4551-4552). See Practice and Procedure, 90 Fed. Reg. 225.
5 Id.
6 See Practice and Procedure, 90 Fed. Reg. at 226-32. A complete summary of the proposed amendments is included in the January 3rd final rule.
7 Id.
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