Reuters
WASHINGTON, Aug 31 (Reuters) – China’s Hubei province, the epicenter of the 2019 coronavirus outbreak, has hired a high-powered U.S. law firm to fight a $24.5 billion judgment ?won by Missouri over allegations that China hoarded protective equipment during the early months ?of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here are the details:
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The People’s Government of Hubei Province and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in a Monday court filing asked, opens new tab a U.S. federal judge in Missouri to set aside the judgment and dismiss the lawsuit.
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They have ?hired White & Case, a U.S.-founded global law firm that employs more than 2,500 lawyers, to ?contest the award. The team includes Christopher Curran in Washington, D.C., a senior litigation partner ?who has represented many foreign countries in U.S. court.
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Missouri filed the first-of-its-kind lawsuit against Hubei, China’s central government ?and others in April 2020, seeking to hold them responsible for alleged economic damages stemming from the ?coronavirus pandemic. A federal appeals court in 2024 revived part of Missouri’s lawsuit after it had been dismissed in the lower court. The remaining claim alleges the defendants monopolized supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE), driving up prices and causing economic ?harm.
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U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh Jr entered, opens new tab a default judgment against the defendants in March 2025 after ?they failed to respond or make appearances in the case. Andrew Bailey, then Missouri’s attorney general, in a statement ?at the ?time said the state would seek to collect the judgment by seizing Chinese-owned assets, including Missouri farmland.
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The damages amount was automatically tripled under federal law after a base finding of $8 billion in compensatory damages.
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In their filing on Monday, China’s Hubei Province and the Chinese Academy of Sciences argued the district judge ?has no power over ?them and that the ?default judgment improperly intrudes into foreign affairs.
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“Missouri put forward no evidence that any defendant broke any contract to ship PPE to the United States during ?the relevant period,” the defendants told the court. Defense lawyers at White & Case ?declined to ?comment.
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A spokesperson for Missouri’s attorney general in a statement on Monday said “China is several years too late” in its challenge to the judgment. “We will continue to hold China accountable for the suffering it inflicted on Missourians ?during ?the COVID-19 pandemic,” the office said.
The case is Missouri v. ?People’s Republic of China et al, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, No. 1:20-cv-00099-SNLJ.
