The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Dec. 16-22:
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec.16-20 in case they were missed.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 9-13 in case you missed them.
CBP does not need to go through the same procedures for unpaid duty claims that are required for penalties, the Court of International Trade said in a Dec. 17 ruling. The lawsuit involves 875 entries filed by Tricots Liesse that were wrongly declared as eligible for NAFTA treatment. CIT previously dismissed a related suit over Section 1592 penalties because CBP did not allow for a face-to-face meeting before imposing the penalties, as required (see 1803260022).
Ziploc bags are classifiable in the tariff schedule under heading 3923 as articles for the conveyance or packing of goods, rather than as plastic household articles of heading 3924, the Court of International Trade said in a Dec. 16 decision. Though the Ziploc bags could be classifiable in both headings, heading 3923 is more specific and is the correct tariff provision under General Rule of Interpretation 3(a), CIT said.
The Commerce Department issued antidumping and countervailing duty orders on vertical mail file cabinets from China (A-570-010/C-570-011). The orders set permanent antidumping and countervailing duties, which will remain in place unless revoked by Commerce in a sunset or changed circumstances review. Commerce will now begin conducting annual administrative reviews, if requested, to determine final assessments of AD/CV duties on importers and make changes to cash deposit rates.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Dec. 2-8:
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 2-6 in case they were missed.
Fossil Group filed for an exemption to the 15 percent List 4A Section 301 tariffs it has paid since Sept. 1 on the traditional watches it imports from China under tariff subheading 9102.11.2520, said a Dec. 6 posting in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s public docket. “Fossil continues to look for ways to diversify its sourcing for traditional watches,” the vendor said. It recently invested in a factory in India that has “capacity to address our product needs” for the local market, but can’t “address our product needs in the global markets,” it said. “Watch manufacturing is a highly specialized skill which cannot be readily duplicated.” Moving traditional watch manufacturing out of China “is not feasible at this time, especially in the very challenging market for traditional watches that Fossil has been experiencing over the last couple of years,” it said. The exemption request doesn’t list Fossil smartwatch imports, which also have List 4A exposure. Fossil also requested exemptions on four classifications of watch straps imported under subheadings 9102.11.10.30, 9102.11.25.30, 9102.11.30.30 and 9102.11.45.30, plus three on the watch cases it imports under subheadings 9102.11.10.20, 9102.11.30.20 and 9102.11.45.20.
An Iranian businessman was sentenced to 46 months in prison for illegally exporting carbon fiber from the U.S. to Iran, the Justice Department said Nov. 14. Behzad Pourghannad worked with two others between 2008 and 2013 to export the carbon fiber to Iran from third countries using falsified documents and front companies, the agency said.