The Court of International Trade held oral arguments on Feb. 7 in the massive litigation over the lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariffs. During the nearly two-hour affair, Judges Mark Barnett, Claire Kelly and Jennifer Choe-Groves probed the parties' positions on whether the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative complied with the Administrative Procedure Act by properly considering comments made on the proposed tariffs when imposing the duties on $500 billion of Chinese goods (In Re Section 301 Cases, CIT # 21-00052).
CBP has opened an Enforce and Protect Act investigation on whether LDL Trading Company is evading antidumping and countervailing duty orders on cast iron soil pipe and pipe fittings from China, and has imposed interim measures, according to Feb. 1 notice.
CBP has opened an Enforce and Protect Act investigation on whether Superior Commercial Services (SCS) evaded antidumping and countervailing duty orders on quartz surface products from China and has imposed interim measures, according to Feb. 2 notice. The agency said there is a reasonable suspicion that SCS transshipped quartz surface products from China through Vietnam to evade AD/CVD of up to 526.14%.
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The Commerce Department failed to support its finding that the provision of electricity for less than adequate remuneration conferred a non-measurable benefit in a countervailing duty proceeding involving goods from South Korea, CVD petitioner Nucor Corp. argued in a Feb. 3 complaint at the Court of International Trade. Nucor also railed against Commerce's decision not to conduct verification of the South Korean government's questionnaire responses (Nucor Corp. v. U.S., CIT #23-00003).
Imported net wraps used to secure crops in a round bale should be classified as parts of agricultural machines rather than as "warp knit fabric," importer RKW Klerks argued in its Feb. 2 opening brief at U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The appeal asks the court to reverse the judgment of the Court of International Trade and hold that imported netwrap is properly classified either as parts of hay balers under subheading 8433.90.50 or as parts of agricultural machinery under subheading 8439.90.00, both duty-free. In the further alternative, RKW asked the court to remand the case to CIT for further proceedings (RKW Klerks v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1210).
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
Timing chain guides used in automotive engines are properly classified in Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8409 as parts for use in engines rather than in heading 8708 as parts for motor vehicles, CBP said in a recently released ruling. The ruling came in response to a request for further review of a denied protest on behalf of US Tsubaki Holdings. Tsubaki entered three models of timing chain guides under heading 8409 but CBP liquidated the entries as parts of vehicles.
The Court of International Trade in a Feb. 1 order dismissed a customs case filed by California Manufacturing and Engineering Co. for lack of prosecution. The action challenged CBP's denial of its protest claiming that the importer's electric aerial work platforms should be classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 8427.10.8010 rather than 8427.90.0000, qualifying for exclusions from the Section 301 tariffs under secondary subheading 9903.88.19. The case previously was placed on the customs case management calendar and not removed before the expiration of the "applicable period of time of removal" (California Manufacturing and Engineering Co. v. U.S., CIT # 21-00028).