Biden admin barred India travel from union workers, career officials, but allowed top political appointees
A judge ordered the Commerce Department to explain why it allowed senior admin officials to travel to India, but not union workers or career officials
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A new court ruling exposed that the Biden administration allowed international travel to India for political appointees while blocking travel for career officials and labor union workers, which the administration has pledged to support.
The lawsuit, brought by steel manufacturer Bonney Forge Corporation and United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (USW), alleges that the Commerce Department is not performing its role, as required by law, to verify manufacturing information related to steel imports out of India in accordance with its anti-dumping obligations.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bonney Forge and USW, whose union members work at facilities where steel is produced, say that the administration is citing COVID-19 restrictions as the reason why it will not send individuals to India to check on the production information for anti-dumping, despite clearing the recent travel of high-level Biden political appointees to India. In addition, the administration did not respond to requests to conduct the verification process virtually.
Commerce Sec. Gina Raimondo, then-Governor of Rhode Island, faces reporters during a news conference, in Providence. ((AP Photo/Steven Senne, File))
Fox News Digital confirmed that the Department of Justice (DOJ) Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Arun Rao, who handles the consumer protection branch of the civil division, traveled to India in October 2021 to "strengthen law enforcement cooperation." In addition, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai also traveled to India in October 2021 to meet with "government officials and stakeholders" and strengthen trade relationships.
In 2019, the Commerce Department opened an investigation into steel fittings from India, after Bonney Forge and USW alleged that steel from India was being sold at a less than fair market inside the U.S. An Indian steel manufacturer, Shakti Forge Industries Pvt. Ltd., was part of the investigation.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Merrick Garland, U.S. attorney general, speaks during the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meeting in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. (Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
However, a week after Shakti first submitted information about its sales in the U.S. as required by the investigation, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. According to court documents, although Commerce "normally conducts verification," in light of the risks and restrictions on travel in the summer of 2020 the department issued a memo canceling verification and didn't allow for a virtual verification option. As a result, Bonney Forge and USW sued Commerce over its decision to rely only on Shakti's self-reporting of costs, which they said is unreliable, and not conducting verification as required by law.
In an opinion issued Wednesday by Judge Stephen Alexander Vaden in the U.S. Court of International Trade, the Commerce Department will have to explain why it allowed senior administration officials to travel to India, but not union workers or career officials who would have been sent to conduct verification visits.
"Should the Government maintain its position that verification remains impossible, the Government can explain in the record why it is safe for senior Department of Justice and Cabinet officials to travel to India in person on discretionary trips but not safe for civil servants with statutory responsibilities to perform to do the same, even if only virtually," Judge Vaden said in his opinion.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He also wrote, "It is Commerce’s job to enforce these guarantees through the antidumping and countervailing duty statutes. Their responsibilities are thus complimentary, but their travel standards clearly are not. It is apparently currently safe to conduct high-level negotiations but not safe to ensure the terms of those deals are actually enforced, despite the destinations being the same."
President Joe Biden speaks about a counterterrorism raid carried out by U.S. special forces that killed top Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi in northwestern Syria, Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
In court filings, Bonney Forge and USW said that they asked the Biden administration to conduct "virtual verification" repeatedly, but the administration did not respond to their requests.
Judge Vaden also noted this, saying in the opinion that Commerce "completely failed" to address those requests for virtual verification, stating that Biden DOJ attorneys, who are representing Commerce in court, even confirmed during oral arguments that there was "no discussion about why a virtual verification would not have been feasible."
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This comes after the Biden administration has signaled strong support for labor unions since Biden took office. During a speech honoring labor unions at the White House in September 2021, President Biden pledged that he is the "most pro-union president in history."
"In my White House, you’ll always be welcome. You’ll always be welcome. Labor will always be welcome. You know, you’ve heard me say many times: I intend to be the most pro-union President leading the most pro-union administration in American history.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Both DOJ and the Commerce Department declined to comment on ongoing litigation. USW and Bonney Forge did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.