Photo of Nithya Nagarajan

Nithya Nagarajan

Nithya’s extensive background in U.S. trade issues spans 25 years and includes various roles in a number of federal government agencies, including the Department of Commerce Department of Justice, and the U.S. Court of International Trade. She assists clients with administrative and regulatory actions before the Department of Commerce, International Trade Commission and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and defends clients in appeals before the Court of International Trade, Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, NAFTA panels and the World Trade Organization. In addition to her body of U.S. experience, Nithya is also well-versed in international trade issues in China and India.

Contact:Read more about Nithya Nagarajan

USTR Proposes Products for Tariff Countermeasures in Response to Harm Caused by EU Aircraft Subsidies

On April 8, 2019, the World Trade Organization (WTO) found that the European Union subsidies to Airbus had caused adverse effects to the United States. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) began its process under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to identify products of the EU to which additional duties may be applied until the EU removes these subsidies. The USTR released a preliminary list of EU products to be covered by these additional duties.

United States Prevails on “Zeroing” Again: WTO Panel Rejects Flawed Appellate Body Findings

On April 9, 2019, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced that a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel had found in favor of the United States in a dispute involving the use of “zeroing” in calculating antidumping duties. This dispute concerned a challenge by Canada to an antidumping investigation of softwood lumber products.

On March 25, 2019, the Court of International Trade issued its decision in the American Institute for International Steel’s appeal on the institution of Section 232 tariffs on steel products.  The CIT found that the Section 232 tariffs were constitutional and thus this decision results in the continuation of these tariffs for the foreseeable future.

The President signed on Friday, February 15, 2019, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, an appropriations bill to keep the government fully open. In the Joint Explanatory Statement (JES) from the House Appropriations Committee that accompanied the bill, Congress directs the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to create an exclusion process for the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs on China “no later than 30 days after the enactment of this Act, following the same procedures as those in rounds 1 and 2….”  This language does not tie a round 3 exclusion process to the level of the tariff (10% or 25%).  Significantly, though, this language in the JES was not included as part of the bill signed by the President and is therefore not legally binding.  Nevertheless, the JES expresses Congress’ intent and indicates that Congress expects USTR to begin an exclusion process covering goods on List 3 no later than March 17, 2019.

The U.S. is expected to make an announcement on whether India will retain eligibility under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program within the next two weeks according to unidentified sources cited by Reuters. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is currently reviewing the eligibility of Indian products for duty-free entry into the U.S. under GSP as a response to petitions from the dairy and medical device industries. On November 1, 2018, USTR suspended GSP tariff reductions on 90 imports from India worth $75 billion including textiles, chemicals, and musical instruments.