Tin-plated brass strips imported by Cooper Plating and then made into plumbing parts before being exported are eligible for temporary importation under bond under subheading 9813.00.05, CBP said in a recent ruling. However, while they undergo the required processing to qualify for TIB treatment, they are subject to the USMCA "lesser of duty rule" for similar reasons, CBP said.
Importer Trijicon's tritium-powered gun sights are "lamps" and not "apparatus," slotting them under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 9405, the Court of International Trade ruled on Feb. 16. Judge Mark Barnett said the gun sights do not meet definition of "apparatus" put forward by either Trijicon or the government, who respectively defined the term as a set of materials or equipment and a complex device. The court instead found that the products "are readily classified as lamps," which are defined as "any of various devices for producing light."
Georgia woman Skeeter-Jo Stoute-Francois filed suit at the Court of International Trade Feb. 16 to contest six questions on the October 2021 customs broker license exam. In her complaint, Stoute-Francois said that after appealing the test results to the Treasury Department, she was left just short of the 75% grade needed to pass the test, failing at 73.75% (Skeeter-Jo Stoute-Francois v. U.S., CIT # 24-00046).
CBP granted an importer's protest that an automatic aerosol dispenser is classified as an appliance part, rather than as an appliance itself, in a recently released ruling.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 5-11:
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 2403 Feb. 13, containing 590 ABI records and 120 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records. The update includes several partner government agency Harmonized Tariff Schedule flag updates, as well as adjustments required by the verification of the 2024 HTS.
A domestic producer seeks the imposition of new antidumping duties and countervailing duties on melamine from Germany, India, Qatar and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as antidumping duties on melamine from Japan and the Netherlands, it said in petitions filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission Feb. 14. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CVD orders and the assessment of AD and CVD on importers.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP is extending its Global Business Identifier pilot through Feb. 23, 2027, the agency said in a notice released Feb. 9. CBP is also removing commodity and country of origin limitations on the entries eligible for the test, it said, opening the test up to more participants across a wider range of industries.
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 2402 Feb. 2, containing 3,519 ABI records and 519 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records. The update includes several partner government agency Harmonized Tariff Schedule flag updates, as well as adjustments required by the verification of the 2024 HTS.