The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 17-23:
CBP lacked the authority to reliquidate three drawback claims regarding three jewelry entries made by Importer Zale Delaware, since the drawback claims deemed liquidated, Zale argued in a Nov 24 complaint at the Court of International Trade (Zale Delaware v. United States, CIT # 25-00139).
Able Groupe, an infant formula retailer, pleaded guilty on Nov. 21 to smuggling European infant formula into the U.S. and importing it in violation of the FDA's prior notice requirements, DOJ announced.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 10-16:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Nov. 17 held that five types of medical foods imported by Nutricia North America are properly classified as "medicaments" and not as "food preparations." Judges Sharon Prost, Richard Taranto and Leonard Stark overruled the Court of International Trade's decision, which came to the opposite conclusion, finding that Nutricia's products are properly found to be medicaments under duty-free Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 3004.50.5040.
The Court of International Trade on Nov. 12 granted default judgment against importer Rago Tires for negligence in importing tires by not declaring the goods as subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on Chinese truck and bus tires. Judge Joseph Laroski ordered Rago to pay a $14,108.87 penalty.
DOJ has increasingly relied on an undervaluation theory for trade enforcement cases brought under the False Claims Act in its increased attempt to police trade fraud and may be looking to include "corporate integrity agreements" as part of trade-related FCA settlements, attorneys at Faegre Drinker said during a Nov. 13 webinar that focused on increased trade enforcement.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of Oct. 27 - Nov. 2 and Nov. 3-9:
Three Chinese researchers were charged on Nov. 5 with conspiracy to smuggle biological materials into the U.S. and for making false statements to CBP officers, DOJ announced. The individuals, Xu Bai, Fengfan Zhang and Zhiyong Zhang, were all research scholars with J-1 visas conducting research at the University of Michigan laboratory of researcher Xianzhong Xu, DOJ said.
Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 may be a more limited "fall-back option" for the Trump administration should the Supreme Court strike down all the tariffs President Donald Trump has imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Dr. Mona Paulsen, law professor at the London School of Economic Law School, wrote in a blog post.