Trading Company Says CBP Negligently Seized Garment Imports Without Notice
Letex Apparels, a Hong Kong trading company, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California alleging that CBP negligently seized or forfeited 26,016 of the company's imported garments valued at $460,743.36. The company argued that, in handling its merchandise, CBP failed to "exercise due care" in handling the goods and violated the company's Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable seizure, the Administrative Procedure Act and a federal rule of criminal procedure requiring the return of property held by the government that isn't needed for evidentiary purposes (Letex Apparels Co. v. United States, C.D. Cal. # 2:25-04462).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
On Feb. 28, 2023, CBP detained Letex's entry, which consisted of the 26,016 garment pieces. The complaint said the garments were seized on July 31, 2023, yet the agency failed to send a notice of seizure to the company. Nevertheless, Letex said it timely filed a petition for remission of the seizure. The agency never responded to the petition, then on a "date unknown," administratively forfeited the garments.
The company said it believes the agency "may have destroyed" the garments.
In response, Letex brought the four-count complaint, arguing that CBP was negligent in handling the merchandise. The complaint said CBP "failed to meet" the requirement to exercise due care "by negligently seizing and, on information and belief, destroying Plaintiff’s 26,016 garments without" notifying the company of the seizure and forfeiture or issuing a decision on the petition for remission.
The company added that CBP violated its Fourth Amendment rights "by forfeiting and, on information and belief, destroying (permanently seizing) Plaintiff’s 26,016 garments contrary to law." Based on these alleged violations, the company said CBP "should be ordered to return Plaintiff’s property or the value thereof forthwith."
Lastly, the complaint alleged that CBP violated Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(g), which allows a party "aggrieved by an unlawful search and seizure of property" to move for the property's return. Letex said that after the property was seized, CBP "failed to serve any notice of forfeiture proceedings" and hasn't returned the property. The government has "no justification for the delay," the complaint said.