Importer Magid Glove & Safety Manufacturing and DOJ argued during oral arguments Sept. 7 whether a test established in a previous U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit case meant that plastic-dipped knit gloves are correctly classified as articles of plastic rather than as gloves under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (Magid Glove & Safety Manufacturing v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 22-1793).
Harmonized Tariff Schedule
The Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) provide classification provisions and duty rates for almost every item that exists. It is a system of classifying and taxing all goods imported into the United States. The HTS is based on the international Harmonized System, which is a global standard for naming and describing trade products, and consists of a hierarchical structure that assigns a specific code and rate to each type of merchandise for duty, quota, and statistical purposes. The HTS was made effective on January 1, 1989, replacing the former Tariff Schedules of the United States. It is maintained by the U.S. International Trade Commission, but CBP is responsible for interpreting and enforcing the HTS.
The government’s position in a case regarding substitution unused merchandise drawback for aircraft parts would lead to "absurd results" if upheld, presenting a "significant risk of manipulation or unintended results" arising from changes in statistical language in the tariff schedule if the court agrees with DOJ's interpretation of the drawback statute, importer Spirit Aerosystems said in an Aug. 18 reply brief at the Court of International Trade (Spirit Aerosystems v. U.S., CIT # 20-00094).
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Aug. 4 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 Commerce Department legally selected Malaysian import data to value backsheet and ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA) in an antidumping duty review on solar cells from China because that data best corresponds to the inputs used by exporter Risen Energy Co., the U.S. argued in an Aug. 3 reply brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Risen Energy Co. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-11550).
CBP determined that importer Zinus US evaded an antidumping duty order covering wooden bedroom furniture from China by making "material false statements or omissions," it said in a notice released July 28. The agency said there was "substantial evidence" showing Zinus imported Chinese-origin furniture by using general product descriptions and misclassifying the furniture as non-covered merchandise.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated July 24-25 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 Court of International Trade on July 21 upheld surrogate value picks for five inputs in an antidumping duty administrative review on activated carbon from China. The five inputs are carbonized material, coal tar, hydrochloric acid, steam and bituminous coal.
The government correctly classified counterweights for mini-excavators as "backhoe" parts, rendering them ineligible for a Section 301 tariff exclusion, CIT Judge Jane Restani ruled in a July 21 opinion.
The U.S. and importer Pacific World reached a settlement regarding the classification of artificial nails, Michael Roll, counsel for the importer, confirmed to Trade Law Daily. The settlement led to the dismissal of 15 cases at the Court of International Trade that were suspended pending resolution of a test case, also brought by Pacific World, which was resolved in 2016.