The government’s response is due May 14 to Akin Gump’s motion April 23 on behalf of Section 301 sample case plaintiffs HMTX Industries and Jasco Products for a “protective preliminary injunction” freezing the liquidation of unliquidated customs entries from China with lists 3 and 4A tariff exposure unless DOJ agrees to a stipulation that refund relief would be available to the importers if they prevail in the litigation (see 2104230069). Akin Gump asked for the opportunity to file a reply brief “no longer than half the length” of DOJ’s May 14 response, and offered to voluntarily withdraw the motion if the government dropped its opposition and agreed to the refund stipulation.
Court of International Trade activity
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission April 23 released the following notices, set for Federal Register publication April 26, on AD/CV duty proceedings:
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
Turkish steel importer Borusan Mannesmann Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret filed a lawsuit April 22 in the Court of International Trade, challenging CBP's denial of its refund request for Section 232 duties, claiming that its goods were granted exclusions. Borusan, along with the consignee of the imports Gulf Coast Express Pipeline (GCX), said it was granted exclusions for specialized X70 large diameter welded line pipe that retroactively applied to imports brought in from Turkey in 2018. Two exclusions were granted for the lined pipe for the construction of the GCX pipeline, so Borusan attempted to use the exclusions to retroactively obtain refunds for Section 232 duties paid but was denied by CBP.
Polyethylene terephthalate sheet exporter OCTAL, Inc. filed a motion April 21 with the Court of International Trade in support of the Department of Justice's move to voluntarily remand an antidumping duty investigation, but called for additional time to for the Commerce Department to reconsider the case. OCTAL says the standard 90-day period of remand is not long enough, arguing Commerce should reopen the record to obtain additional information on the central claim in the lawsuit.
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in an April 26 opinion upheld a Court of International Trade ruling that gave duty-free treatment to darunavir ethanolate, the active ingredient in a HIV medication from drugmaker Janssen.
Plaintiffs HMTX Industries and Jasco Products in the massive Section 301 litigation’s sample case moved April 23 in the U.S. Court of International Trade for a “protective preliminary injunction” to suspend liquidation of all unliquidated customs entries imported from China with Lists 3 and 4A tariff exposure. The Akin Gump motion on behalf of HMTX-Jasco came days before the court’s three-judge panel convenes a status conference in which plaintiffs are expected to air their demands for stipulated refunds of all liquidated entries if they prevail in the litigation.
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The Court of International Trade greenlighted a test case for GoPro to adjudicate multiple claims challenging a CBP classification decision in an April 22 order. Judge Timothy Reif suspended three other cases brought by GoPro challenging CBP's classification of imported camera housings, subject to classification as “cases” under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 4202. The popular camera manufacturer argues the camera housings should instead be classified as “camera parts” under HTS heading 8525.
The Court of International Trade stayed all proceedings in a case against 14 individuals for a scheme to evade antidumping and countervailing duties until criminal charges also levied against eight of the defendants are settled, in an April 22 procedural order. The defendants allegedly evaded duties on off-the-road tires, passenger vehicle and light truck tires and truck and bus tires from China. The case in CIT has the government seeking $20.9 million in penalties for customs fraud and $5.6 million in unpaid duties for the eight individuals with criminal charges, as well as six other defendants and the Houston-based company Winland International, which does business as Super Tire. The Section 1582 penalty case alternatively seeks $12.5 million in penalties and $2.2 million in unpaid duties for gross negligence.