More than 40 companies and trade groups, from businesses with 26 employees to one with 32,000, are asking that 25% Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum be applied to hundreds of "derivative" products made by foreign competitors.
A Federal Maritime Commission administrative law judge has approved a confidential agreement to settle allegations by U.S.-based protective equipment supplier AirBoss Defense Group that non-vessel-operating common carrier FedEx Trade Networks Transport & Brokerage and ocean carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co. charged unfair demurrage and detention fees, according to an FMC notice released May 15.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of May 12-18:
The Court of International Trade on May 15 denied the government's bid to stay one of the major challenges to trade action taken under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act pending resolution of earlier-filed cases challenging the tariff action. Judges Jane Restani, Gary Katzmann and Timothy Reif, who now preside over all major cases challenging IEEPA tariffs at the trade court (see 2505150009), concurrently granted a motion from the plaintiffs, represented by the libertarian group Pacific Legal Foundation, to expedite consideration of the case (Princess Awesome v CBP, CIT # 25-00078).
The State of California and its governor, Gavin Newsom, filed an amici curiae brief on May 15 in a lawsuit brought by 12 U.S. states against all tariff action taken by President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. In it, the state made a bevy of statutory arguments against the government's interpretation of IEEPA, all of which are included in the state's own lawsuit against the IEEPA tariffs (The State of Oregon v. Donald J. Trump, CIT # 25-00077).
The following lawsuit was filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
At a subcommitee hearing called "Foreign Threats to American Innovation and Economic Leadership," senators shared their frustration that they had a similar hearing about the profusion of counterfeit products for sale online two years ago, and still, they haven't been able to make a difference (see 2310030071).
A product is "imported" for duty drawback purposes when it's admitted into a foreign-trade zone and not when entered for domestic consumption, the Court of International Trade held on May 15. Judge Timothy Reif said the definition of "importation" found in both the dictionary and Supreme Court precedent distinguishes importation from entry.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated April 29 - May 7 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):
The following lawsuit was filed recently at the Court of International Trade: