The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida on May 8 permitted the U.S. to file an additional reply brief in support of its motion to transfer a case challenging certain tariff action taken under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to the Court of International Trade. Judge Kent Wetherell gave the government until May 19 to file its reply addressing the plaintiffs' "merits arguments" (Emily Ley Paper v. Donald J. Trump, N.D. Fla. # 3:25-00464).
Pushing back against a motion to transfer an International Emergency Economic Powers Act challenge to the Court of International Trade, educational materials importers led by Learning Resources said May 7 that the case’s jurisdictional question overlaps with its substantive one -- whether IEEPA actually permits the president to levy tariffs (Learning Resources, Inc. v. Donald J. Trump, D. D.C. # 25-01248).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on May 9 upheld the Court of International Trade's classification of 14 mixtures of frozen fruits and vegetables under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 0811.90.80, the residual category for "other" frozen fruit.
Joyce Adetutu, a former partner at Baker Botts, has joined Vinson & Elkins as a partner in the export controls and economic sanctions practice, the firm announced. Adetutu's practice centers on export controls, trade, sanctions and tariff issues, including reviews conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the firm said.
The European Commission opened a public consultation regarding a list of U.S. imports that could become subject to tariffs in response to the flurry of U.S. trade action, should talks with the White House fall through, the commission announced. The list covers over $107 billion worth of U.S. imports, including a "broad range of industrial and agricultural products," it said.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated April 25-28 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):
The following lawsuit was filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
CBP cannot unilaterally decide to reliquidate entries that were erroneously liquidated while subject to a suspension order from the Court of International Trade, the trade court held on May 8. Judge Gary Katzmann said an "enjoined party is not empowered to choose and implement the remedy for its own violations of an injunction," writing that that power is the court's alone.
President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs fail to satisfy the International Emergency Economic Powers Act's requirements by failing to identify an "unusual and extraordinary" threat in relying on "longstanding trade policy problems," 12 states, led by Oregon and Arizona, argued. Submitting a motion for a preliminary injunction against all tariffs imposed under IEEPA, the states also said the reciprocal tariffs, and the tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico, don't "deal with" the threats they identify (The State of Oregon v. Donald J. Trump, CIT # 25-00077).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on May 9 upheld the Court of International Trade's classification of 14 types of frozen fruit mixtures under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 0811.90.80, which covers "other" frozen fruit. Judges Todd Hughes, Leonard Stark and Robert Schroeder, sitting by designation from a Texas court, held that nine types of mixtures that contain fruits and vegetables properly fit under heading 0811 pursuant to GRI 3(b), which considers which component of a mixture gives it its "essential character," since the mixtures' fruit gave the product its essential character. The appeals court said subheading 0811.90.80 was proper to cover all 14 mixture types, though it disagreed with the trade court that "other" means "none of the above," writing instead that it means "none of the preceding categories."