The Court of International Trade on March 1 issued a decision calling into question the ability to use first sale valuation on transactions involving non-market economies, including China. In a case on cookware imported by Meyer from a Chinese affiliate, CIT Senior Judge Thomas Aquilino held Meyer did not adequately prove that the sales were free of “any distortive nonmarket influences,” as required by a 1992 Federal Circuit decision on first sale involving Nissho Iwai.
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.
Canadian textile company Tricots Liesse 1983 must pay its surety, Aegis Security Insurance, $768,916.53 along with legal fees for a customs bond payment that Aegis made on Tricots' behalf to cover unpaid duties on textile imports. Tricots must reimburse Aegis after Tricots failed to object to Aegis' motion for a quick ruling on the facts of the case, the Court of International Trade ruled in a Feb. 26 summary judgment. While the bond payment amount is not under dispute, Judge Richard Eaton did not accept Aegis' quote for its legal fees and ordered the surety to provide additional evidence of how much it is owed in attorney's fees, costs and expenses. Aegis initially submitted attorney time sheets on Aegis letterhead, claiming over $92,000 in legal fees that the court deemed did not meet the evidentiary standard for reimbursement. The lawyer for Tricots withdrew from the case Sept. 23, 2020.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Feb. 16-19 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 15-21:
The Court of International Trade ordered the Commerce Department to reconsider its determination that certain hardwood plywood with outer veneers of radiata or agathis pine is circumventing antidumping and countervailing duties on hardwood plywood from China. CIT Judge Jane Restani found that Commerce had insufficient evidence to prove that the type of plywood in question was developed after the duties were imposed, in a Feb. 18 decision.
Importers of steel and aluminum could be facing higher antidumping duty rates, after the Court of International Trade ruled Feb. 17 that Section 232 tariffs are a form of normal import duties that should be deducted from foreign exporters' U.S. prices in AD duty rate calculations. The trade court held that, unlike Section 201 safeguard duties and AD/CV duties, which are not deducted, the national security-based Section 232 tariffs have a different purpose unrelated to remediating injury from an import surge or underpriced imports.
Importer E.G. Plastics failed to pay antidumping duties on 25 entries of polyethylene retail carrier bags and now must pay $1.1 million plus pre-judgment interest. Court of International Trade Judge Gary Katzmann issued a default judgment against E.G. Plastics after the company failed to defend itself in court against allegations that it failed to pay the duties on bags imported between 2008 and 2009. “Because E.G. Plastics failed to protest the liquidations of the entries at issue and E.G. Plastics failed to appear, plead, or otherwise defend itself in this action, the court grants the Government’s motion for default judgment,” the decision said.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb.8-14:
The Court of International Trade on Feb. 16 ordered a cigarette rolling paper importer to pay a $239,946.40 penalty for negligent violations of Section 592 because of $5,296.37 in remaining unpaid excise taxes. Judge Gary Katzmann issued the default judgment against The Token Group after the importer failed to appear in court to dispute the charge that it hadn't paid the full $119,973.20 in excise taxes it originally failed to pay.
Target Corporation was denied the chance to appeal a Court of International Trade decision on the antidumping duty rate for ironing tables from China that the retailer imports. In a Feb. 16 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said that the company has no right to appeal because it wasn't part of the original case and that it is not appealing CIT's original decision to deny Target the right to intervene in the original case.