The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of March 6-12:
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.
A wide range of legal issues around CBP's new processes for antidumping or countervailing duty evasion allegations under the Enforce and Protect Act (see 1608190014) (EAPA) will require litigation to clarify, panelists said March 9 at the International Trade Update. For example, if CBP decides to impose higher bonding requirements on an alleged evader, can the importer then file for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction with the Court of International Trade to stop CBP, asked Jonathan Stoel, a lawyer with Hogan Lovells. Practical scenarios like that will need to be played out to give a better look at the possible strategies for lawyers involved, according to panelists at the event hosted by the Georgetown University Law Center.
No new lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 27 - March 5, nor were any appeals of CIT decisions filed at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit during that week.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 20-26:
Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners are not religious or cultural rituals for the purposes of tariff classification, the Court of International Trade said in a decision issued March 1 (here). That being the case, Christmas and Thanksgiving-themed dinnerware imported by WWRD should be classified according to its constituent materials, instead of alongside Seder plates and menorahs in a special duty-free tariff subheading for articles used in specific religious or cultural ritual celebrations, CIT said.
The Court of International Trade on Feb. 28 dismissed parts of an importer’s lawsuit challenging CBP’s tariff classification of its graduated compression hosiery, arm sleeves and gauntlets (here). While the classification of other models remains to be decided, CIT ruled importer Sigvaris cannot contest the classification of certain lines of compression hosiery and arm sleeves because they were not listed in supplements to the importer’s protests or were not listed in documents during the case’s discovery phase.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 13-19:
Roasted sunflower seeds are classifiable as food preparations, not as seeds, the Court of International Trade said in a decision issued Feb. 15 (here). Well Luck, the importer of the seeds, argued that a tariff provision for “sunflower seeds” includes all forms, including roasted and flavored seeds for snacking. CIT found that tariff provision only applies to sunflower seeds suitable for “general use,” excluding roasted seeds because they are unsuitable for planting.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 6-12:
A company that sold Nicaraguan cheese in transit before entry cannot claim Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) benefits on the cheese because it is not the importer, even though it is still listed as importer of record on entry documentation, the Court of International Trade said in a recent decision (here).