CTA hired Akin Gump to draft a complaint that, if pursued in the U.S. Court of International Trade, would seek a preliminary injunction blocking the Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports before the duties are scheduled to rise to 25 percent on Jan. 1, we learned from those familiar with the plans. The association is shopping the draft around with other anti-tariff trade groups, seeking their legal and financial backing to support a court challenge, they said.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Oct. 15-21:
Two domestic bicycle manufacturers filed a petition Oct. 19 seeking new Section 201 safeguard duties on mass-market bicycles. Detroit Bikes and Bicycle Corporation of America say the dominance of imported mass-market bicycles makes it impossible for U.S. manufacturing to re-establish itself. The companies seek a tariff-rate quota over a period of four years, along with a decrease in the de minimis level for imported bikes and duty-free access for parts used in U.S. bicycle manufacturing operations. The duties would apply to bicycles from all countries, though the International Trade Commission can exempt free trade agreement partners.
The following new requests for antidumping and countervailing duty scope rulings were filed with the Commerce Department since International Trade Today's last update:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Oct. 8-14:
CBP must issue final regulations on drawback under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act by Dec. 17, 2018, the Court of International Trade said in an Oct. 12 decision. Capping a contentious case brought by a set of customs brokers and importers (see 1803260048), CIT Judge Jane Restani ordered that the final regulations must take effect immediately on Dec. 17, except for certain excise tax drawback provisions that may take effect 60 days later.
It’s impossible to forecast how many product-specific exemptions to the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will grant “because we’re in uncharted territory,” David Cohen, a trade expert with Sandler Travis, told a Sports & Fitness Industry Association webinar Oct. 11. With Tuesday’s deadline having lapsed for requesting exemptions to the first round of tariffs that took effect July 6, USTR denied 108 requests of the more than 10,000 filed and has yet to grant a single exemption, Cohen said.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Oct. 1-7:
CBP will not move forward with plans for a wide-ranging reorganization of its ACE customer support office after receiving negative feedback from the trade community, said Steve Zaccaro, chief of the agency’s Client Representative Branch, on a conference call held Oct. 4. The agency will reassign some software vendors, importers and brokers currently assigned to overburdened client representatives, but the “vast majority” will not be affected by the changes, he said.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 24-30: