U.S. Court of International Trade — Judicial Business 2021

The geographic jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of International Trade extends throughout the United States. Most of the cases this court hears involve antidumping and countervailing duties, the classification and valuation of imported merchandise, actions to recover unpaid customs duties and civil penalties, and various actions arising generally under the tariff laws.

In 2021, this court reported 781 case filings, a decrease of 79 percent (down 2,889 cases). This reduction occurred as cases filed under 28 U.S.C. § 1581(i), which were actions brought against the United States that mainly addressed tariff laws and the administration and enforcement of those laws, dropped from 3,491 in 2020 to 494 in 2021. Of the remaining cases filed this year, 142 were actions involving 1,345 denied protests covering 4,182 entries of merchandise under 28 U.S.C. § 1581(a), which applies to civil actions filed against the United States to contest the denial of protests under the Tariff Act of 1930. In addition, 141 cases filed under 28 U.S.C. § 1581(c) were actions brought against the United States to contest final determinations issued under the antidumping and countervailing duty laws.

Case terminations decreased 25 percent from 482 in 2020 to 362 in 2021. Pending cases increased 10 percent to 4,690 in 2021. 

Filings were 150 percent higher in 2021 than in 2017. However, filings frequently vary from year to year because of fluctuations in cases arising from the agencies that are sources of filings in this court.

For data on filings in the U.S. Court of International Trade, see Table G-1.