Fish oil ethyl ester concentrates imported by BASF are "extracts of fish" under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 1603 and not food preparations under heading 2106, the Court of International Trade held on May 2. Judge Joseph Laroski said the concentrates are extracts of fish oil, since they maintain many key characteristics of the fish oil, and that fish oil is fish for purposes of the HTS heading. In granting BASF its preferred HTS classification, Laroski sidestepped the issue of whether the U.S. could seek a classification different from the one chosen by CBP through a counterclaim at the trade court.
The International Trade Commission defended its bid for mandamus relief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit regarding the Court of International Trade's ruling striking down the commission's practice of automatically redacting questionnaire responses in injury proceedings. The ITC said that it has standing to vie for mandamus relief and that the trade court abused its discretion in undercutting the commission's policy regarding the submission of confidential information (In re United States, Fed. Cir. # 25-127).
The following lawsuits were filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
Importer Snap One, doing business as SnapAV or Control 4, voluntarily dismissed two customs suits at the Court of International Trade on April 28. The company brought the cases to contest CBP's classification of its network management controllers of Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 8537.10.9170, dutiable at 2.7%, arguing that instead the goods fit under subheading 8517.62.0090, free of general and Section 301 duties. Counsel for Snap One didn't immediately respond to request for comment (Snap One v. United States, CIT #s 23-00078, -00079).
CBP unlawfully detained 11 shipments of honey from importer Tri State Honey and held the entries for "nearly a year without explanation or justification," the importer argued in an April 29 complaint at the Court of International Trade. Seeking at least $4 million in damages along with attorney's fees, Tri State Honey said CBP violated its "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 (Tri State Honey v. United States, CIT # 25-00080).
The U.S. District Court for the District Columbia set a hearing for May 27 to hear two children's educational materials producers' motion for a preliminary injunction against all tariff action taken by President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. In a text-only order, Judge Rudolph Contreras set the hearing to take place at 3 p.m. EDT both on the preliminary injunction bid and the U.S. government's motion to transfer the case to the Court of International Trade (Learning Resources v. Donald J. Trump, D.D.C. # 25-01248).
Importer Mitsubishi Power Americas’ catalyst blocks were filters or purifiers and properly classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8421, not “other” catalytic reactors under 3815, the Court of International Trade ruled April 29.
The U.S. offered its most fulsome defense of President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs to date, submitting a reply to a group of five importers' motion for a preliminary injunction and summary judgment at the Court of International Trade on April 29. The government argued that the text, context, history and purpose of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act lets the president impose tariffs and that IEEPA doesn't confer an unconstitutional delegation of authority to the president (V.O.S. Selections v. Donald J. Trump, CIT # 25-00066).
Two Illinois producers of children’s educational materials challenged April 22 President Donald Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs, adding their complaint to a growing pile making similar claims (see 2504250038, 2504140061 and 2504230067). They, like other challengers, are seeking a preliminary injunction, saying that their businesses are already suffering irreparable harm as a result of the tariffs (Learning Resources, Inc. v. Donald J. Trump, D. D.C. # 25-01248).
Cable importer Cyber Power Systems brought two more classification disputes to the Court of International Trade April 28 (see 2504010067 and 2305170023 (Cyber Power Systems (USA) Inc. v. United States, CIT # 21-00199).