In defense of its motion for summary judgment and opposition to the government’s, an airplane parts importer said Aug. 30 that Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8803, which covers “parts of goods” for aircraft or nonpowered aircraft, is more specific than heading 6307, which represents “other made up articles, including dress patterns” in a fabric section (Honeywell International Inc. v. U.S., CIT # 17-00256).
Court of International Trade
The United States Court of International Trade is a federal court which has national jurisdiction over civil actions regarding the customs and international trade laws of the United States. The Court was established under Article III of the Constitution by the Customs Courts Act of 1980. The Court consists of nine judges appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate and is located in New York City. The Court has jurisdiction throughout the United States and has exclusive jurisdictional authority to decide civil action pertaining to international trade against the United States or entities representing the United States.
The Court of International Trade on Sept. 9 rejected importer Katana Racing's renewed motion to dismiss the govenrment's action against it seeking over $5.7 million in unpaid duties on passenger vehicle and light truck tires from China, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the trade court's previous dismissal of the case. In her first opinion since being confirmed to the court, Judge Lisa Wang said the U.S. didn't fail to properly identify the "person" liable for the violation, exhaust administrative remedies or bring the case on time (U.S. v. Katana Racing, CIT # 19-00125).
Importer Woodcraft Supply filed a complaint on Sept. 6 at the Court of International Trade seeking refunds on duties overpaid due to CBP's refusal to use "first sale" valuation on the company's woodworking tools and related article imports (Woodcraft Supply v. United States, CIT # 22-00253).
Importer Solid State Logic voluntarily dismissed its customs suit on its audio production consoles, filing a notice of dismissal on Sept. 5 at the Court of International Trade. The company brought the suit to claim that the entered value of its consoles was overstated. Counsel for Solid State didn't respond to request for comment as to why the case was dismissed (Solid State Logic v. United States, CIT # 22-00310).
The Court of International Trade on Sept. 9 rejected importer Katana Racing's renewed motion to dismiss the government's action against it to recover unpaid duties on passenger vehicle and light truck tires from China. In her first opinion since being confirmed to the court, Judge Lisa Wang held that the U.S. didn't fail to properly identify the person liable for the violation, didn't need to exhaust administrative remedies and didn't unreasonably delay in bringing the claim. The judge added that Katana's claim of government misconduct is better characterized as part of summary judgment. Wang also denied both the government's and Katana's motions for summary judgment, finding there to be genuine issues of material fact that can't be sorted on the current motions, particularly due to the lack of undisputed facts in the case.
The Commerce Department stuck by its treatment of antidumping duty respondent Assan Aluminyum's raw material costs and hedging revenues on remand at the Court of International Trade in the AD investigation on aluminum foil from Turkey. However, the agency modified Assan's duty drawback adjustment, resulting in a slight uptick in the respondent's AD rate, from 2.28% to 2.3% (Assan Aluminyum Sanayi ve Tiaret v. United States, CIT # 21-00616).
The United Steelworkers labor union brought a case to the Court of International Trade on Sep. 4 arguing that a Commerce Department scope ruling, which excluded a certain type of temporary tire from antidumping duties on passenger vehicle and light truck tires from Taiwan, had misunderstood the language of the AD order it had drawn from (United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC v. U.S., CIT # 24-00165).
The Court of International Trade on Sept. 5 said a CBP headquarters ruling on see-through pop-up tent "pods" that differed in outcome from a previously decided protest didn't require public notice-and-comment because the protest wasn't a "prior interpretive ruling or decision." Judge Timothy Reif dismissed one of importer Under the Weather's counts in its customs classification case on the pods, finding that the prior protest approval wasn't the result of "considered deliberations," didn't have "prospective effect" and wasn't "interpretive."
The Court of International Trade on Sept. 4 dismissed a case from importer InterGlobal Forest challenging CBP's premature liquidation of hardwood plywood entries subject to an Enforce and Protect Act investigation after the company failed to state a reason to continue the case. In a previous order, Judge Mark Barnett noted that after litigation led to a negative evasion finding, CBP reliquidated InterGlobal's entries and canceled the bills for the payment of duties (InterGlobal Forest v. United States, CIT # 20-00155).
The Court of International Trade on Sept. 3 dismissed a customs case from importer Dover Street Market NY for lack of prosecution. The court said that because the case wasn't removed from the customs case management calendar at the "expiration of the applicable period of time of removal," the case is dismissed for failure to prosecute. The importer brought the suit in August 2021 to challenge CBP's denial of its duty drawback claims (Dover Street Market NY LLC v. U.S., CIT # 21-00420).