United States Ex Rel. Norwegian Nitrogen Products Co. v. United States Tariff Commission

Background

An American company asked the Tariff Commission for a large increase in the import duty on sodium nitrite. Another business that imports and sells that chemical for a Norwegian manufacturer sought access to the Commission’s investigation files and asked to cross-examine the Commission’s investigators. The Commission had gathered cost data from U.S. makers under promises of confidentiality and withheld foreign and some domestic cost details as trade secrets, citing a statute that forbids revealing trade secrets. The importer sued in a Washington court to force disclosure and fuller hearings.

Reasoning

Before the courts decided on the merits, the Commission finished its inquiry and the President issued a proclamation setting a new duty on sodium nitrite. The Supreme Court said that because the President had already acted, the importer could not get effective relief from a court order requiring renewed hearings or disclosure. The Court therefore declined to rule on whether the Commission was required to reveal the withheld cost information and vacated the lower courts’ rulings, instructing dismissal of the case as having become pointless.

Real world impact

The President’s new tariff remained in effect and the immediate challenge to the Commission’s handling of confidential cost data was ended without a decision on whether those trade secrets must be disclosed. The Court noted that the Commission or President could reopen the matter, but neither is required to do so. The result left the practical question of public access to production-cost details unresolved for now.