Customs broker Seko Customs Brokerage continued its bid for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against CBP's move to temporarily suspend Seko from the Entry Type 86 pilot and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program, filing a brief in support of the motions at the Court of International Trade on July 10 (Seko Customs Brokerage v. United States, CIT # 24-00097).
The U.S. is seeking over $1.1 million in unpaid antidumping and countervailing duties plus a $2 million civil penalty against importer Forest Group USA and its alleged successor company, Drapery Hardware USA, the government said in a customs penalty suit filed July 10 (U.S. v. Forest Group USA, CIT # 24-00117).
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of July 1-7:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on July 5 rejected an order by the Federal Maritime Commission that said ocean carrier Evergreen Shipping Agency (America) Corp.'s detention charges collected from trucking company TCW were "unjust and unreasonable." FMC failed to meaningfully respond to Evergreen's arguments, the court said, and the responses the commission did offer were "implausible" (Evergreen Shipping Agency (America) Corp. v. Federal Maritime Commission, D.C. Cir. # 23-1052).
The Court of International Trade sustained CBP's finding that Dominican exporter Kingtom Aluminio didn't evade antidumping and countervailing duty orders on aluminum extrusions from China. In a June 13 decision made public July 8, Judge Richard Eaton said Kingtom responded to all U.S. requests for information during an Enforce and Protect Act investigation, precluding the use of adverse facts available. He also said the court can't ignore "the total lack of any record evidence of any imports by Kingtom into the Dominican Republic" of aluminum extrusions made in China.
A former prisoner at the Hunan Chishan Prison in China sued Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp. and Techtronic Industries Co. in the Eastern District of Wisconsin for importing goods made with forced convict labor. The individual, using the pseudonym Xu Lun, alleged that the firms violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which allows for civil suits against parties that knowingly benefit from taking part in a venture which the party "knew or should have known was engaged in forced labor" (Xu Lun v. Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp., E.D. Wis. # 24-803).
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of June 10-16, 17-23 and 24-30:
The U.S. on July 1 urged the Court of International Trade to dismiss customs broker Seko Customs Brokerage's suit contesting CBP's suspension of the company from participation in the Entry Type 86 pilot and Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program. The government said Seko's claims aren't ripe for judicial review, are moot and are premature (Seko Customs Brokerage v. U.S., CIT # 24-00097).
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 28 overturned a hallmark of administrative law that had stood for four decades: the principle, established in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, of deferring to federal agencies' interpretation of ambiguous statutes.
The EU applauded a recent move by the U.S. to lift restrictions on certain plant imports from 21 member states after finding the regions were free from two pests (see 2406110052), and it's asking the U.S. to continue removing the restrictions for other EU countries. The European Commission said it helped “negotiate the removal” of the U.S. import restrictions, which "underscores the cooperative efforts between the EU and US to ensure the safety and quality of traded agricultural products." But it noted that Finland, Austria, Croatia, France, Germany and Italy are still under restrictions. "The Commission continues to work with the US on the EU’s remaining demand," it said.