Marvin Furniture appealed the Court of International Trade’s dismissal of its challenge to a new shipper review of wooden bedroom furniture from China (A-570-890). The International Trade Administration rescinded the new shipper review for Marvin after it found entries of subject merchandise that predated the date of first entry listed in Marvin’s new shipper review request. Marvin argued that it had the statutory right to correct the filings, but CIT said that right only applies to information the ITA requests. Marvin, on the other hand, submitted the new shipper review request on its own accord. CIT later denied a rehearing of the case Jan. 9.
A status hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Feb. 7 in the case of Bartholomew Caso, 62, who pleaded not guilty last month to charges of selling unregistered securities in Preferred Spectrum Investments. Investigators for the Palm Beach (Fla.) Police Department said Caso had told investors that Preferred “purchased license applications from the Federal Communications Commission for airway frequencies."
The International Trade Commission is asking for comments by Jan. 10 on Speculative Product Design’s Dec. 26 Section 337 patent complaint on certain cases for portable electronic devices. The complaint listed the following respondents:
Auto Liq Instructions are an ITA Action, Come Under 1581(i), says CIT; Denies Dismissal of Challenge
The Court of International Trade denied the government’s motion to dismiss, for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, an action brought by Michaels Stores challenging allegedly incorrect antidumping duty assessment instructions sent to CBP by the International Trade Administration. The government argued that Michaels is challenging CBP’s action, so the suit should have been filed under 28 USC 1581(a) customs protest denial jurisdiction. CIT said Michaels was instead challenging the International Trade Administration’s action, considering that the ITA issued the instructions, and said the suit was correctly filed under 28 USC 1581(i) residual jurisdiction as a challenge of the ITA’s administration and enforcement of trade laws.
Speculative Product Design filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission Dec. 26, alleging violations of its patents related to certain cases for portable electronic devices. The complaint lists the following proposed respondents:
The sharing of client contact information, including names and address, for security verification purposes would be permissible in certain situations, said CBP in a Nov. 21 ruling. The ruling, HQ H221355, is in response to a ruling request from Alan Klestadt, a lawyer at Grunfeld, Desiderio. Klestadt, asked the agency to say whether the release of contact information to third parties for security verifications is allowed under current regulations.
The Court of International Trade ordered a customs broker to pay a $19,000 penalty for violations of several provisions of the Customs regulations, including failing to notify the importer of record when doing business with an unlicensed person; conducting business without a valid power of attorney; misclassification of entries; and failure to exercise due diligence and responsible supervision and control. The customs broker failed to respond to any of CBP’s pre-penalty notices, penalty notices, and final demands for payments, and did not respond to any notices or motions in this case, so was declared to be in default. As the defendant was in default, CIT took all of CBP’s factual allegations as true, and granted CBP’s motion to collect the penalties.
CBP is establishing procedures in the event of a longshoremen's strike (here). CBP said its Office of Field Operations is working with all field locations to update contingency plans so all affected seaports can resume vessel operations and entry processing of freight as quickly as possible. It issued general vessel, cargo, and entry guidelines developed in cooperation with trade stakeholders and incorporating CBP system limitations identified during the recent disruptive events. It said trade members should work closely with local CBP port management to ensure compliance with all CBP policies and procedures, and the procedures are only applicable during the disruptive event. Among other things, CBP said:
The European Union issued the following trade-related releases Dec. 18-20 (notices of most significance will be given separate headlines):
The Court of International Trade denied Millenium Lumber’s motion to dismiss a penalty action seeking $1.8 million in liquidated damages for the failure to get the necessary licenses to import softwood lumber from Canada. Millenium argued the government failed to exhaust its administrative remedies because CBP didn’t complete administrative proceedings to mitigate the penalty before bringing suit to collect the penalties. Relying on its past precedent, CIT said CBP mitigation proceedings are voluntary and discretionary, and so are not a prerequisite for liquidated damages actions.