The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Dec. 20-22 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 lawsuits were filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
Importer Trijicon's tritium lamps are "lamps" of Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 9405 regardless of the "material" of which they are made and the light source they use, the U.S. said in a Dec. 28 reply brief at the Court of International Trade (Trijicon v. U.S., CIT # 22-00040).
Importer Dell Will Customs Brokers (USA) Inc. dismissed its customs case on Dec. 27 at the Court of International Trade. The company filed suit in December 2021 claiming that its scaffolding, parts or accessories, of Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheadings 7308.40.00 and 9403.20.00, are exempt from Section 301 China tariffs under secondary subheading 9903.88.03. Counsel for Dell Will didn't respond to our request for comment (Dell Will Customs Brokers (USA) Inc. F/A Metal Tech-Omega Inc. v. U.S., CIT # 21-00630).
The Commerce Department unreasonably selected data from Kazakhstan's Bureau of Natural Statistics data to use as a tier two benchmark regarding the provision of natural gas for less than adequate remuneration, countervailing duty petitioner The Mosaic Co. argued in a Dec. 28 complaint (The Mosaic Co. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00247).
Action camera maker GoPro Inc.'s camera housings are camera parts and not cases, the Court of International Trade ruled Dec. 28, allowing them to enter the U.S. duty-free.
The Court of International Trade on Dec. 28 said action camera-maker GoPro's imports of eight camera housing models are properly classified under the company's proffered Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading of 8529.90.86, free of duty. This subheading provides for "[p]arts suitable for use solely or principally with the apparatus" of heading 8525. Judge Timothy Reif spent the bulk of the opinion discussing how the camera housings do not fit under the heading Customs used, 4202, which carries a 20% duty rate. Reif said the housings are not "cases" because they don't require the user to remove, modify or open to access the camera and because the housings boost the camera's functionality.
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
Exporter Jilin Bright Future Chemicals Co. failed to raise arguments on the surrogate value of bituminous coal in an antidumping duty review, the Court of International Trade ruled Dec. 21. Judge Mark Barnett said that despite Jilin Bright's argument, "this case fits squarely into the classic administrative exhaustion paradigm."
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York: