The Northern Illinois U.S. District Court on Dec. 30 found an importer was not liable for a 2005 train derailment caused when the contents of its shipment fell through the floor of a moving train car. Although Plano Molding could potentially be held liable for the disaster, evidence from expert witnesses showed that a faulty shipping container, and not the way that the container was packed, caused the disaster, the court said.
Notable CROSS rulings
The International Trade Commission posted the 2014 edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The new HTS implements changes made by Presidential Proclamation 9072, including a rewrite of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement rules of origin. It also clarifies exemptions for some free trade agreements from the merchandise processing fee (MPF), includes a statistical note on the reporting of metal ores, slag and residues, and adds new statistical suffixes to several tariff subheadings for products like xanthan gum, sterilizers, and unwrought titanium. Most of the changes took effect Jan. 1.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Dec. 20. The corresponding downloadable rulings are now available.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Dec. 18 with 126 rulings, bringing the total number of searchable rulings to 179,901. The most recent ruling is dated 12/05/2013.
In the Dec 12-13 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union, the following trade-related notices were posted:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed on Dec. 12 a lower court ruling against CBP’s imposition of nearly $38 million in penalties on Union Pacific for contraband found in Mexican trains crossing the border. CBP had imposed the penalties after finding illegal drugs on trains brought to the U.S. border by Ferrocarril Mexicano and Kansas City Southern de Mexico, even though Union Pacific didn’t control the trains until after the CBP inspections. The Nebraska U.S. District Court rejected the penalties in 2012, in part because Union Pacific had no reasonable way of preventing cartels from putting drugs on other companies’ trains. The 8th Circuit mostly agreed with the circuit court, vacating only a court order to issue regulations related to the standard of care required of common carriers.
The Digital Trade Act of 2013 would prevent or eliminate cross-border Internet data flow restrictions through the establishment of several negotiating principles aimed at addressing digital trade issues in future U.S. trade agreements, said Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in a press release (here). Wyden and Senator John Thune, R-S.D., introduced the legislation on Dec. 10, according to the release. Through the negotiating principles, the legislation would also prohibit localization requirements for data and computing infrastructure and ensure laws affecting platform Internet sites are consistent with U.S. law, said the release.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Nov. 25 with 291 rulings, bringing the total number of searchable rulings to 179,776. The most recent ruling is dated 11/22/2013.
The U.S. should advance Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations with only certain participant nations that are willing to make strong market access and rules commitments, such as intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, in a Dec. 2 letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. The U.S. should still, however, pursue sealing TPP negotiations this year, said Hatch. The Obama Administration has repeatedly urged conclusion of TPP negotiations by the end of 2013 (see 13112927).
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices for Dec. 2 (Note that some may also be given separate headlines.)