US to Appeal CIT Decision Rejecting Bid to Collect on Years-Old Surety Bond
The government will appeal an August Court of International Trade decision finding that its claim for unpaid duties against a surety company on an entry liquidated in 2009 violates both the statute of limitations for seeking payment and an implied requirement in the bond that demand for payment be made in a reasonable time (U.S. v. Aegis Security Insurance Co., CIT # 22-00327).
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In the decision, Judge Jane Restani became the third CIT judge to rule on the issue of the government looking to collect unpaid duties from surety companies years after the underlying entry has liquidated (see 2506110038). Restani's decision adopted the views of both courts to have ruled on the issue. One said the statute of limitations had run out on a years-old entry, finding that liquidation runs from the date of the underlying entry's liquidation (see 2308220054), while the other said the statute of limitations had not run but CBP violated the implied statutory term of "reasonableness" in waiting too long to make the demand (see 2403180059).
The government's appeal of the case against Aegis Security Insurance Co. marks its first attempt to appeal the issue.