The U.S. filed its opening brief at the Supreme Court on Sept. 19 in the lead cases on the legality of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Solicitor General D. John Sauer said the reciprocal tariffs and tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico meant to stop the flow of fentanyl are a valid exercise of IEEPA, adding that the tariffs are a proper expression of presidential policymaking in emergency situations.
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The following lawsuit was filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
Importer PF America dropped its case at the Court of International Trade on whether its flooring qualifies for an exclusion from Section 301 China tariffs, according to a Sept. 19 notice of dismissal. The importer filed suit in 2022 to claim that its flooring of Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 3918.10.1000 qualifies for a Section 301 exclusion under secondary subheading 9903.88.46. Counsel for PF America didn't respond to a request for comment (PF America v. United States, CIT # 22-00060).
The U.S. agreed to classify importer Robert Bosch's human machine interface controllers under the duty-free Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading of 8517.62.00, according to a stipulated judgment filed at the Court of International Trade on Sept. 19. CBP initially classified the human machine interface controllers under HTS subheading 8543.70.99, which is dutiable at 2.6% and covers other electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions and not specified elsewhere in the chapter. Subheading 8517.62.00 provides for "Machines for the reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, images or other data, including switching and routing apparatus" (Robert Bosch v. United States, CIT # 20-00028).
The Court of International Trade on Sept. 22 denied the government's motion for reconsideration in importer BASF's customs case on the classification of its fish oil ethyl ester concentrates. Judge Joseph Laroski rejected the government's claims that the court, in finding that the concentrates are "extracts of fish" under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 1603 (see 2506040076), overlooked that fish extracts must have similar characteristics to meat extracts and ignored BASF's stipulation that its preparations aren't fatty acids. Laroski said the court explicitly addressed the claim regarding meat extracts and considered BASF's stipulation.
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The Supreme Court set oral argument for the lead cases on the legality of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act for Nov. 5, part of an attempt to hear the cases on an expedited basis (Donald J. Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, U.S. 25-250) (Learning Resources v. Donald J. Trump, U.S. 24-1287).
The standing up by DOJ of the Trade Fraud Task Force indicates the Trump administration is pouring significantly more resources and attention into prosecuting tariff evasion and customs fraud, and will use the various criminal and civil enforcement tools at their disposal, various attorneys said.
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York: