Apple was fined about $465,000 for violations of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations after it hosted, sold and “facilitated the transfer” of software applications and content belonging to a sanctioned company, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a Nov. 25 notice. Apple allegedly dealt in “the property and interests” of SIS d.o.o., a Slovenian software company added to OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List in 2015.
CBP is working to resolve an issue with some product exclusions for the Section 232 tariffs on aluminum that are being rejected mistakenly, a CBP official said during a Dec. 5 call with software developers. CBP plans “to have a remedy next week” but “because they are retroactive, if you must pay the duty because the system is apparently rejecting them, you always have [the Post Summary Correction (PSC)] process,” she said. The importer may also choose to delay entry, she said.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 25 - Dec. 1:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 18-24:
An importer’s owner and executive can’t be automatically held liable for customs fraud penalties only by virtue of their position in the company, the Court of International Trade said in a Nov. 25 decision. Specific facts must link the corporate officer to any allegations of customs fraud, CIT said as it granted a motion to dismiss a penalty case brought against an apparel importer and its owner.
Ford looks set to appeal its case on the tariff engineering of cargo vans to the Supreme Court, according to a recent filing. The automaker filed a request on Nov. 20 to delay its formal petition for a hearing until February. The Supreme Court granted the request and formally docketed the case. Ford is appealing a Federal Circuit decision issued in June that found its vans imported with passenger seats are classifiable as cargo vans because the vans were designed so that the seats could be removed post-importation (see 1906070061). That decision overturned an earlier ruling from the Court of International Trade, which had found the vans classifiable in their condition at the time of importation as passenger vans (see 1708170032). The Federal Circuit denied Ford’s request for a rehearing in October (see 1910280033)
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 12-15 in case they were missed.
Increased Section 232 duties on steel products from Turkey may be invalid or even unconstitutional, the Court of International Trade said in a Nov. 15 decision. Denying the government’s motion to dismiss an importer's challenge of the 50 percent duty, which was dropped back to 25 percent in May (see 1905170004), the court said Transpacific Steel raises arguments that may lead to a refund of the additional duties in the CIT’s final decision.
The Court of International Trade on Nov. 13 overturned a Commerce Department scope ruling that found cedar shingles and shakes are subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on softwood lumber from Canada. The court said Commerce needed to explain why it had never considered shingles and shakes subject to softwood lumber cases dating back to 1982, but suddenly found they’re covered by the orders in the 2018 scope ruling.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 4-10: