The Court of International Trade on Aug. 28 denied both the government's and importer HyAxiom's motions for judgment in a customs classification case on PC50 supermodules, which are a part of a stationary hydrogen fuel cell generator known as the PureCell Model 400. Judge Timothy Stanceu said a factual determination is needed on whether the PC50's "principal function" is gas generation.
Jacob Kopnick
Jacob Kopnick, Associate Editor, is a reporter for Trade Law Daily and its sister publications Export Compliance Daily and International Trade Today. He joined the Warren Communications News team in early 2021 covering a wide range of topics including trade-related court cases and export issues in Europe and Asia. Jacob's background is in trade policy, having spent time with both CSIS and USTR researching international trade and its complexities. Jacob is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Public Policy.
Mississippi seafoods wholesaler Quality Poultry and Seafood Inc. and two of its managers pleaded guilty on Aug. 27 to conspiring to mislabel frozen imported goods as their more expensive and premium local counterparts, DOJ announced. The company agreed to pay $1 million in forfeitures and a $150,000 criminal fine, while sales manager Todd Rosetti and business manager James Gunkel copped to "misbranding seafood to facilitate" the company's fraud, DOJ said.
Conservation groups Sea Shepherd New Zealand and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit seeking an import ban on fish from New Zealand's West Coast North Island inshore trawl and set net fisheries under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (Sea Shepherd New Zealand v. U.S., CIT # 20-00112).
The U.S. told the Court of International Trade on Aug. 23 that exporter Hoshine Silicon (Jia Xing) Industry Co. doesn't have statutory or constitutional standing to challenge CBP's denial of the company's request to remove it from a withhold release order (WRO) on silica-based products made by its parent company Hoshine Silicon and its subsidiaries (Hoshine Silicon (Jia Xing) Industry Co. v. United States, CIT # 24-00048).
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Aug. 12-18:
Last week, the Court of International Trade said anti-forced labor advocacy group International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates) didn't have standing to challenge CBP's inaction in responding to a petition to ban cocoa from Cote d'Ivoire, alleging that it's harvested by child labor (see 2408080049). Terrence Collingsworth, counsel for IRAdvocates, told us he intends to appeal the decision but, should that fail, he is ready to bring alternative plaintiffs before the court who may more clearly establish standing.
The U.S. acknowledged on Aug. 16 that CBP mistakenly liquidated certain tire entries subject to an injunction from the Court of International Trade. Filing a status report, the government said the Commerce Department "took corrective action," telling CBP to "promptly return to unliquidated status any entries that had been inadvertently liquidated in violation of the Court’s order" (Titan Tire Corp. v. United States, CIT # 23-00233).
Nigel Cory, former associate director of trade policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, has joined Crowell & Moring as a director, the firm announced. Cory will aid attorneys in the firm's international trade practices and other areas, the firm said.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Aug. 5-11:
Womenswear company Alexis will pay nearly $7.7 million to settle a whistleblower False Claims Act case, which alleged that the company underpaid customs duties on its apparel imports, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida announced Aug. 9.