Jacob Kopnick

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Jan. 26 declined to dismiss a False Claims Act suit from a whistleblower that alleges her employer misclassified footwear to avoid tariffs. Magistrate Judge Robert Lehrburger said the fact none of the defendants served as the importer of record for the allegedly undervalued footwear imports is irrelevant for purposes of establishing liability under the FCA (United States ex rel. Devin Taylor v. GMI USA Corp., S.D.N.Y. # 16-7216).

Texas company Kubota North America was ordered Jan. 25 to pay $2 million for falsely labeling replacement parts for tractors, mowers, utility vehicles, and construction and agricultural equipment as having been made in the U.S. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas entered a stipulated judgment against the company, which included the penalty and compliance reporting and record-keeping requirements for the next 20 years (U.S. v. Kubota North America Corp., N.D. Tex. # 3:24-00159).

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 22-28:

The Commerce Department on Jan. 31 finalized an interim rule on the dispute settlement mechanism for reviewing antidumping and countervailing duty decisions from the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The rule references the provision under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement as opposed to the relevant article under the North American Free Trade Agreement -- the predecessor to the USMCA.

The Court of International Trade on Jan. 30 said that for drawback purposes the 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheadings should be read starting with their directly adjacent text and not the superior indented text. Judge Claire Kelly said the "plain meaning" of the statute governing substituted unused merchandise drawbacks refers to the "words describing the article adjacent to the 10-digit number."

The Court of International Trade on Jan. 25 said importer Fraserview Remanufacturing Inc. didn't need a protest to file suit at the trade court for its entries that were erroneously deemed liquidated while liquidation was suspended. Judge Timothy Reif said that because the statute for deemed liquidation requires the that entries not be suspended, CBP's notices of deemed liquidation didn't operate to actually liquidate the entries.

Rimon Law added two partners and one associate to its international trade practice, the firm said. The new partners are James Min, former global chair of international trade law for the DHL Group and Mi-Yong Kim, former partner at LimNexus. The firm also added Chelsea Ellis, former LimNexus associate, as an associate. Rimon also announced the launch of its export controls and economic sanctions practice. Ellis, Kim and Min join partner Daanish Hamid in that practice. Sandra Bell, former deputy assistant commissioner at CBP's Office of International Trade, also recently joined the firm (see 2401120064).

The following lawsuit was filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 15-21.

The Court of International Trade on Jan. 19 granted a joint motion that results in duty-free treatment for swimsuits reimported by SGS Sports under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 9801.00.20. The ruling avoids a bench trial over whether the swimsuits qualify for the subheading as U.S. goods returned to the country.

International trade attorney Lindsay Meyer, co-chair of Venable's international trade group, has retired, according to a firm notice at the Court of International Trade. Meyer received her J.D. degree from the George Washington University Law School in 1987 and worked in international trade for over 30 years, covering trade remedies, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and customs and homeland security matters. She also is a licensed customs broker.