The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 17-23:
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.
The Court of International Trade on Feb. 21 issued an order blocking Section 232 “derivatives” tariffs on a second importer. The preliminary injunction stops CBP from collecting the tariffs on Oman Fasteners, and also sets bond requirements similar to those found in another preliminary injunction CIT recently issued for another importer, PrimeSource (see 2002140040). CIT Chief Judge Timothy Stanceu, who is also judge in the PrimeSource case, issued the order.
A third importer has now requested a court order blocking collection of new Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum “derivatives," and two others are not far behind. Huttig Building Products filed a lawsuit at the Court of International Trade on Feb. 18 challenging the new tariffs, and a day later asked for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that would bar imposition of the tariffs on entries from Huttig and its affiliate while the court considers the legal challenge. Astrotech Steels and Trinity Steel filed their own complaints on Feb. 20, though as of press time they had not yet asked the court to order a halt to the tariffs.
Ford Motor Company recently filed a Supreme Court appeal of a case involving tariff engineering of Ford transit vans to obtain a lower rate for passenger vehicles. The automaker’s Feb. 13 petition for certiorari says the Supreme Court’s intervention is necessary to end uncertainty for U.S. importers caused by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s “doctrinally incoherent and erroneous precedent,” and to rectify the CAFC’s errant decision not to address certain arguments made by Ford at a lower court.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 10-16:
A challenge to Section 232 tariffs that began Feb. 8 on finished steel and aluminum products could proceed quickly, if the Court of International Trade approves a jointly proposed schedule filed Feb. 14 that would have written arguments in the case wrapped up by May. CIT a day earlier issued a preliminary injunction barring CBP from collecting the tariffs from the importer that filed the lawsuit, PrimeSource. Oman Fasteners has requested a similar injunction in a separate case, but as of press time the court had not ruled on the motion. The preliminary injunction for PrimeSource results from an agreement between the government and PrimeSource nine days after the lawsuit was filed.
The Court of International Trade on Feb. 13 issued an injunction barring CBP from collecting new Section 232 tariffs on finished steel and aluminum products form a single importer, PrimeSource. The preliminary injunction says CBP cannot collect “duty deposits” on PrimeSource’s entries of goods covered by the tariffs, which took effect Jan. 8, and sets bonding requirements until CIT enters final judgment in the case. The preliminary injunction results from an agreement between the government and PrimeSource nine days after the lawsuit was filed.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 3-9:
An HIV drug imported by Janssen Ortho is duty-free under the Pharmaceutical Appendix to the tariff schedule, the Court of International Trade said in a Feb. 6 decision. CBP had collected about $100 million in duties on the medication in recent years, but CIT found the agency should have allowed it in free under Special Program Indicator “K,” despite the drug’s Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Number being unlisted in the appendix.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 27 - Feb. 2: