Jacob Kopnick

Dallas-based importer ADCO Industries, also known as Dallco Marketing, settled charges that it violated the False Claims Act by avoiding customs duties on Chinese industrial product imports, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas announced. The company agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle the whistleblower action, with $500,000 going to whistleblowers Donald Reznicek and Collen McFarland.

Ghacham Inc., a Paramount, California-based wholesale clothing company operating under the Platini brand, was ordered to pay a $4 million fine and nearly $6.4 million in restitution for undervaluing its garment imports to avoid paying millions of dollars in customs duties, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced Dec. 8. The penalty, which also includes a five-year probationary period, was also levied for Ghacham's work with a woman tied to Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel.

The Court of International Trade doesn't have jurisdiction to hear importer Southern Cross Seafoods' challenge to the National Marine Fisheries Service's rejection of its application for preapproval to import Chilean sea bass, the court ruled Dec. 7. Judge Timothy Reif said that the agency's decision, issued under the Antarctic Marine Living Resources Convention Act of 1984 (AMLRCA), doesn't constitute an "embargo or other quantitative restriction," barring jurisdiction under Section 1581(i), the court's "residual" jurisdiction.

Textile gloves with a plastic coating on the palm and fingers are classifiable in the tariff schedule as gloves, not as articles of plastics, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a Dec. 6 opinion.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 27 - Dec. 3:

German company KingKong-Tools GmbH & Co KG, along with its American subsidiary King Kong Tools, will pay $1.9 million to resolve allegations of customs fraud, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced. The office alleged that King Kong falsely said its tool imports were made in Germany when they were made in China, misrepresenting their country of origin in violation of the False Claims Act.

The Court of International Trade in a Nov. 30 opinion said that it is likely to have jurisdiction over Chinese exporter Ninestar Corp.'s challenge to its placement on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List. Following Ninestar's motion for a preliminary injunction against its placement on the list, Judge Gary Katzmann ruled more narrowly, holding Ninestar is likely to show that jurisdiction is proper under Section 1581(i), the court's "residual" jurisdiction, which covers any civil action regarding "embargoes or other quantitative restrictions." While the U.S. said the UFLPA Entity List does not create an embargo since it establishes a rebuttable presumption, Katzmann said the court has exerted jurisdiction over similar embargoes where exemptions or reconsideration are granted.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of Nov. 6-12, 13-19 and 20-26:

Six U.S. oil country tubular goods manufacturers -- Tenaris U.S., Vallourec Star, Borusan Pipe US, PTC Liberty Tubulars, Welded Tube US, and Axis Pipe and Tube -- have formed a new trade association. The U.S. OCTG Manufacturers Association elected Tenaris U.S. President Luca Zanotti chairman, and appointed Roger Schagrin, partner at Schagrin Associates, its general counsel, a Nov. 28 news release said.

Dispute settlement understanding talks among World Trade Organization members has been very "intense," though the large issues remain unresolved, Maria Pagan, deputy U.S. trade representative and chief of mission in the Geneva office, said Nov. 20. Speaking at an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on the upcoming 13th Ministerial Conference, Pagan said discussions started by acknowledging the different parties' interests as opposed to putting text on the table and hashing out the deal.