On August 16, 2021, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) once again issued an order revising certain deadlines originally established in its July 6 decision and order granting the plaintiff group’s motion for a preliminary injunction in the ongoing Section 301 tariff refund litigation involving imports of certain Chinese products. The preliminary injunction suspended liquidation of unliquidated entries subject to Section 301 List 3 and List 4A duties that, the plaintiff group alleges, are not authorized under the original investigation of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) into China’s actions adversely affecting U.S. intellectual property rights, innovation, or technology development. Despite further progress in negotiations between the plaintiff group and the U.S. government defendants in establishing the process for reporting and suspending liquidation of unliquidated entries, the parties’ August 9, 2021 status report revealed lingering disputes between the parties. The CIT has adjusted the following deadlines:

  1. A September 3, 2021 deadline for the government defendants to establish the repository for entering unliquidated entry information; and
  2. A September 3, 2021 deadline for additional proposed modifications by the parties to the CIT’s preliminary injunction order.

Most significantly, the CIT has extended from September 2, 2021 until October 4, 2021 the temporary restraint period prohibiting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from liquidating any unliquidated entries involving List 3 and List 4A duties.