The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on June 30 affirmed the constitutionality of a longstanding requirement to pay duties before bringing most customs cases to court (here). International Custom Products had appealed the case from the Court of International Trade, arguing that requiring the now-bankrupt importer to pay $28 million in duties violated its due process right to a hearing. In yet another twist in ICP’s decade-long struggle involving entries of white sauce that the courts have found were the subject of an improperly revoked ruling, the Federal Circuit found that the conditions set by law for challenging protest denials are inviolable, despite the unpleasant circumstances of ICP’s case.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of June 22-28:
An ongoing criminal investigation for antidumping and countervailing duty evasion does not in itself justify single transaction bond requirements to combat transshipment, ruled the Court of International Trade on June 26. CBP must detail its reasoning for enhanced bonding requirements by providing the importer and the court with specific allegations, instead of noting suspicion based on the mere existence of an ICE investigation, said CIT.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of June 15-21:
The Court of International Trade on June 19 overturned CBP’s application of antidumping duties on imports of steel electrical conduit, finding the agency wrongly interpreted the scope of an AD duty order on circular welded pipe from China. The government had disputed the importer’s ability to challenge a CBP decision related to AD duties, arguing that Puerto Rico-based LDA Incorporado should have filed suit against the Commerce Department’s scope instructions instead. But with the fact not in dispute that Commerce’s scope instructions exempted LDA’s product, CIT found the importer’s issue was clearly with CBP’s incorrect interpretation and ordered the entries reliquidated.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a complaint against Uber with the FTC Monday about the company’s proposed changes to its privacy policy that are expected to take effect July 15. “In less than four weeks, Uber will claim the right to collect personal contact information and detailed location data of American consumers, even when they are not using the service,” EPIC's complaint said. “These changes ignore the FTC’s prior decisions, threaten the privacy rights and personal safety of American consumers, ignore past bad practices of the company involving the misuse of location data, pose a direct risk of consumer harm, and constitute an unfair and deceptive trade practice subject to investigation by the Federal Trade Commission."
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 15-19 in case they were missed.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a complaint against Uber with the FTC Monday about the company’s proposed changes to its privacy policy that are expected to take effect July 15. “In less than four weeks, Uber will claim the right to collect personal contact information and detailed location data of American consumers, even when they are not using the service,” EPIC's complaint said. “These changes ignore the FTC’s prior decisions, threaten the privacy rights and personal safety of American consumers, ignore past bad practices of the company involving the misuse of location data, pose a direct risk of consumer harm, and constitute an unfair and deceptive trade practice subject to investigation by the Federal Trade Commission."
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls settled two civil liability cases on June 18 and 19 over sanctions violations. The National Bank of Pakistan’s New York branch agreed to pay $28,000 to OFAC over more than a half dozen violations between 2013-14 of the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations, OFAC said on June 18 (here). NBP processed transfers to Kyrgyz Trans Avia, an airline headquartered in Bishek, Kyrgyzstan, said OFAC. The agency placed the airline on its Specially Designated Nationals List in 2013 (here). The base amount for the violations is $64,000. OFAC also on June 19 settled a civil liability case with John Bean Technologies, based out of Chicago, over 2009 violations of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators Sanctions Regulations. The company agreed to pay $391,950 over the violations, said OFAC (here). John Bean sold goods to a Chinese company, and the goods were then shipped from Spain to Iran via Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines. John Bean later reimbursed ”AeroTech Spain for charges paid to its freight forwarder for the shipping services rendered by IRISL, and to Banco Santander for fees associated with negotiating” the payments, on top of another violation related to trade documentation filing, said OFAC. The total based amount for the violations is $670,000.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of June 8-14: