CIT Rules Against Defendant in ATPA Retroactive Duty Quest
The U.S. Court of International Trade on Sept. 12 shot down a U.S. importer’s challenge to a CBP protest denial over duty-free benefits for Colombian fresh cut flowers. Mex Y Can Trading USA said it sent a timely submission to…
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CBP to get retroactive benefits for 156 entries of flowers imported into the U.S. from February to July 2011, but the court rejected that claim. At the time, the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA) had expired for Colombia, but the Oct. 21, 2011 enactment of the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement put the benefits into force retroactively, allowing the duty-free benefits to be re-liquidated. CBP sent out a message on Oct. 26 that said U.S. importers had 180 days to file re-liquidation requests. The defendant filed the requests on May 1, 2012, which is beyond the 180-day window. The court ruled the defendant filed an untimely request, and therefore the duties will not be refunded. CBP in the message said the ATPA benefits would begin again on Nov. 5, 2011, and the defendant interpreted that as the date for which the 180-day period started on. The court dismissed that argument, and said the CBP message was clear.