CBP “without explanation” reclassified imported nitrile rubber gloves as non-medical gloves and subjected them to a 3% duty rate, despite the gloves meeting all FDA requirements for medical gloves, their importer said in a complaint filed at the Court of International Trade May 22 (SW Technologies v. U.S., CIT # 23-00119).

After Court of International Trade Judge Stephen Vaden questioned the International Trade Commission in an oral hearing for what he considered to be over-redaction of a petitioner’s record information (see 2404010066), that petitioner supported the ITC’s decision in a brief May 22 (OCP v. U.S., CIT Consol. # 21-00219).

A tire importer that alleges that CBP illegally liquidated its entries before the end of litigation regarding those entries opposed, in a May 22 brief, the government’s motion to dismiss its case. The trade court asked the importer to answer whether the court has jurisdiction “to review the denial of a protest if the basis for the denial" is orders by the Commerce Department (see 2405070052) (Acquisition 362 v. U.S., CIT # 24-00011).

A hardwood plywood importer sought dismissal of its case in the Court of International Trade after winning a similar one April 8 (Liberty Woods International Inc. v. U.S., CIT # 20-00143).

In a 2022 case brought against both CBP and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, plaintiff Curia Global Inc., a drug development company, once again amended its complaint to remove one of its family companies, Curia Wisconsin, because “the entity is in the process of changing ownership and no longer wishes to join in this action" (Curia Global Inc. v. U.S., CIT # 22-00247).

The U.S. told the Court of International Trade on May 22 that a corrected notice of denial of a customs broker license has been sent to a Georgia woman. The woman is suing the government to contest six questions on the licensing exam after scoring 73.75% on it, just short of the 75% or above she needed to pass (see 2402160040) (Skeeter-Jo Stoute-Francois v. U.S., CIT # 24-00046).

During Georgetown University Law Center’s Annual Trade Update, a panel of in-house attorneys for major corporations including Tesla, Microsoft and Home Depot, discussed the particular challenges they face in an international trade market that is only growing more complex.

In reply briefs May 17, a rail coupler importer refused to back down on its argument before the Court of International Trade that the Commerce Department can’t begin new investigations fewer than two years before completion of a previous one due to statutory language governing changed circumstances reviews (Wabtec Corporation v. U.S., CIT #s 23-00160, -00161).

The U.S. moved to dismiss a customs penalty suit it brought against importers Cruzin Cooler and Bad Lama and their owner Kevin Beal after it already obtained default judgment from the Court of International Trade against the companies for knowingly misclassifying their entries to lower their duty liability (United States v. Cruzin Cooler, CIT # 15-00333).

TikTok and a group of TikTok users filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on May 17 for expedited consideration of their consolidated action challenging the constitutionality of a recently enacted bill either banning or forcing a sale of the social media platform (TikTok v. Merrick Garland, D.C. Cir. # 24-1113).