Manufacturing trade groups and companies mostly argued in comments to the U.S. Trade Representative that USMCA rules of origin for their sectors shouldn't change as part of the pact's review, and if they do, it should be only after extensive consultation with industry, and with adequate transition times.
The Court of International Trade on Nov. 26 granted the government's motion for rehearing in a customs dispute on the classification of certain radial, web and chordal segments imported by Honeywell and used in airplane brakes, changing the classification of the parts to "fabrics" under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 6307. Judge Mark Barnett reversed his previous holding that the goods are "parts of an aircraft" under heading 8803, subjecting the items at issue to a 7% duty under subheading 6307.90.98.
CBP's regulations regarding the notice provided to importers subject to Enforce and Protect Act investigations and when CBP must initiate those investigations violated an importer's due process rights, the Court of International Trade held on Nov. 26.
The Commerce Department is amending the final results of two separate countervailing duty administrative reviews on steel reinforcing bar from Turkey (C-489-819) based on the final decision in a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit case that consolidated the findings from Court of International Trade cases challenging those final results.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 17-23:
CBP lacked the authority to reliquidate three drawback claims regarding three jewelry entries made by Importer Zale Delaware, since the drawback claims deemed liquidated, Zale argued in a Nov 24 complaint at the Court of International Trade (Zale Delaware v. United States, CIT # 25-00139).
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 10-16:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Nov. 17 held that five types of medical foods imported by Nutricia North America are properly classified as "medicaments" and not as "food preparations." Judges Sharon Prost, Richard Taranto and Leonard Stark overruled the Court of International Trade's decision, which came to the opposite conclusion, finding that Nutricia's products are properly found to be medicaments under duty-free Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 3004.50.5040.
President Donald Trump may look to ramp up his use of sections 232 and 301 should the Supreme Court rule that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act can't be used for levying tariffs, various lawyers told us. However, the expanded use of these statutes, both as they are being used now and how they may be used to supplant the existing reciprocal and fentanyl trafficking tariffs, may encounter legal difficulties.
The Court of International Trade on Nov. 12 granted default judgment against importer Rago Tires for negligence in importing tires by not declaring the goods as subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on Chinese truck and bus tires. Judge Joseph Laroski ordered Rago to pay a $14,108.87 penalty.