The Court of International Trade's ruling that a product is "imported" for duty drawback purposes when it's admitted into a foreign-trade zone and not when entered for domestic consumption impermissibly repealed part of the Foreign Trade Zone Act, imported King Maker Marketing argued in its opening brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The importer added that it's "both absurd and anomalous" to impose a time limit on the recovery of duties and taxes under the drawback scheme as "beginning to run before those duties and taxes are paid" (King Maker Marketing v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 25-1819).
A special committee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that Judge Pauline Newman's "continued refusal to cooperate with the Committee’s investigation" of her fitness to continue serving on the bench "constitutes continuing misconduct." Responding to the judge's motion for reconsideration and the committee's order to show cause regarding whether the CAFC Judicial Council should renew its one-year suspension of Newman from hearing cases, the committee recommended July 28 that the council extend the suspension for another year. The 98-year-old Newman had asked the council to reconsider her suspension.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on July 28 issued its mandate in a case on the 2018-19 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on Italian pasta, remanding the review to the Court of International Trade (see 2506050021). The court said Commerce failed to account for the Food and Drug Administration's "mandated rounding rules on the protein content listed on the label" of U.S. pasta and the "different nitrogen-to-protein conversion factors used in calculating protein content" in the U.S. and Italy in comparing Italian and American products. Judges Alan Lourie, Alvin Schall and Kara Stoll said the agency improperly prioritized "transparency" over its statutory duty to compare physically identical products in an antidumping duty review (La Molisana v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-2060)
An entry of gold jewelry from Oman qualifies for duty-free treatment under the U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, importer Empire Jewelry argued in a July 28 complaint to the Court of International Trade. The importer noted that CBP doesn't disagree as to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading that applies to the case, subheading 7113.19.5090, but rather whether the jewelry originates in Oman under the terms of the FTA (Empire Jewelry v. United States, CIT # 24-00127).
The Commerce Department permissibly used respondent Habas Sinai ve Tibbi Gazlar Istihsal Endustrisi's Turkish lira-denominated sales to value the company's home-market sales in the 2018-19 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on cold-rolled steel flat products from Turkey, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held on July 29.
Court of International Trade Judge Mark Barnett pressed counsel for petitioner Edsal Manufacturing during oral argument on July 23 regarding the company's challenge to the Commerce Department's surrogate financial statement selection in the antidumping duty investigation on boltless steel shelving units from Thailand. Barnett also sharply questioned Edsal's counsel regarding their challenge to Commerce's use of the commercial invoice date as the date of sale for respondent Siam Metal Tech's U.S. sales and the agency's reliance on respondent Bangkok Sheet Metal's total cost of manufacture value (Edsal Manufacturing Co. v. U.S., CIT # 24-00108).
Jennifer Nordquist has been appointed to serve as the new deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization, replacing Angela Ellard who will step down at the end of August, WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala announced on July 28. Nordquist, whose appointment is effective Oct. 1, currently serves as counselor on the Council of Economic Advisers at the White House. She previously served as executive vice president of the Economic Innovation Group, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, executive director for the U.S. at the World Bank Group, and chief of staff and deputy of economic studies at the Brookings Institution.
Importers Global Plastics and Marco Polo International agreed to pay $6.8 million to settle claims that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly failing to pay customs duties on plastic resin from China, DOJ announced. The U.S. said Global Plastics and Marco Polo, both subsidiaries of MGI International, received credit for "cooperating with the government."
Importer Grosfillex agreed to pay $4.9 million to settle claims that it violated the False Claims Act by evading antidumping and countervailing duties on items made with aluminum extrusions from China, DOJ announced. The FCA case was initially filed by Edward Wisner, a former employee of Grosfillex and whistleblower in the case, who will receive a $962,662.74 cut of the settlement.
Importer Tri State Honey on July 24 dropped its lawsuit at the Court of International Trade on CBP's detention of its 11 honey shipments. In filing the suit, the company said CBP unlawfully detained the shipments and held them for nearly a year without explanation (see 2504300014). The importer was seeking at least $4 million in damages along with attorney's fees, since CBP allegedly violated the company's "due process rights" by failing to disclose the reasons for the detention of its honey and the evidence as to the honey's country of origin. Counsel for Tri State Honey didn't respond to a request for comment (Tri State Honey v. United States, CIT # 25-00080).