The Commission has lifted the suspension of the Section 337 investigation initiated by U.S. Steel against major Chinese steel makers ( Certain Carbon and Alloy Steel Products, Inv. No. 337-TA-1002) that had been ordered by Judge Dee Lord. In a Notice issued on August 5, 2016, the Commission reversed the Judge's Initial Determination (ID) suspending the investigation and remanded the investigation, which involves claims of price fixing, trade secret misappropriation, and false designation of origin, to the Judge to resume the proceedings.
As reported in a prior post, in the ID issued on July 6, 2016, Judge Lord had suspended the investigation to allow the Commission to provide notice to the Commerce Department that the Commission investigation fell, at least in part, within the purview of pending antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings. After the ID issued, the Secretary of the Commerce Department sent a letter to the Commission stating that the Department was aware of the Commission's investigation and noting that the Department is engaged in two investigations that could potentially come within the scope of the Commission's investigation. Complainant U.S. Steel and the Office of Unfair Import Investigations then petitioned for review of the ID and respondents filed a joint response opposing those petitions.
According to the Commission's Notice, the rationale for reversal of the ID will be set forth in an upcoming opinion.
Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.
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