The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 28 - Oct. 4:
Court of International Trade
The United States Court of International Trade is a federal court which has national jurisdiction over civil actions regarding the customs and international trade laws of the United States. The Court was established under Article III of the Constitution by the Customs Courts Act of 1980. The Court consists of nine judges appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate and is located in New York City. The Court has jurisdiction throughout the United States and has exclusive jurisdictional authority to decide civil action pertaining to international trade against the United States or entities representing the United States.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 28 - Oct. 2 in case they were missed.
Door stiles and rails imported by Composite Technology International are too thick on the outside to enter duty free as veneered panels, and too thin on the inside to be duty free laminated wood, said the Court of International Trade in a Sept. 28 decision (here). Instead, the frame and panel door parts should be classified as “other articles of wood” dutiable at 3.3%, ruled the court.
The Court of International Trade on Sept. 28 ordered a Texas woman to pay over $2 million for her part in a get-rich-quick scheme proposed by a customs broker (here). Dionicio Bustamante, a licensed broker, approached Jeanette Pacheco at a “nightclub” and offered her $200 for her signature on a power of attorney, according to the CIT ruling. He proceeded to import undervalued dried peppers on her behalf. But when CBP caught onto the scheme, Pacheco found herself on the hook as the importer for penalties under 19 USC 1592 for undervaluation and failure to redeliver.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 21-27:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 14-20:
Dock ladders imported by Asia Sourcing Corporation are exempt from antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum extrusions from China because they are finished goods kits, said the Commerce Department in a notice that reverses a scope ruling issued in 2013 (here). Commerce had initially ruled the three models of dock ladders did not qualify for the finished goods kits exemption because they had no non-extruded aluminum parts besides fasteners (see 13032729). However, following an order issued in June by Court of International Trade, Commerce acknowledged that plastic end caps and plastic-coated cables were not fasteners, and found the deck ladders exempt. According to Commerce’s remand results, approved by CIT at the end of August (here), Asia Sourcing did not specify the non-extruded aluminum parts in its scope ruling request, only notifying Commerce of their presence in a request for reconsideration submitted after the 2013 scope ruling was issued.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 7-13:
CBP properly liquidated entries subject to antidumping duties within the required timeframe, which began when the Commerce Department issued liquidation instructions and not when it published a Federal Register notice of a court decision, CBP said in a June 24 internal advice ruling (here). CBP ruled in HQ H258962 that Alltrade, which imported pry bar sets from China, was wrong in its assertion that the six month liquidation timeline began with the Federal Register notice announcing the court decision to the public, called a Timken Notice.
The prospects for a Customs Reauthorization compromise bill in September are increasingly bleak as staff continues to negotiate an acceptable deal and congressional leadership grapples with a busy schedule this month, said a range of people close to the negotiations over recent days. Republican leadership and other lawmakers party to the talks insist, however, they still are committed to deliver a customs compromise, known as a conference report. Lawmakers haven’t taken any formal steps toward completing a report since the Senate appointed conferees in late June (see 1507070066).