Electronic goods with Chinese components such as notebooks, laptops and modems reimported to the U.S after undergoing repairs in Mexico are still subject to Section 301 tariffs on the repairs, even though the repairs are duty free under USMCA, CBP said in a February ruling.
The statute of limitations in customs penalties runs from the date of entry, not from the date that the importer directed the violation to be committed, the Court of International Trade said in a March 31 decision that denied a motion to dismiss a fraud case against Florida businessman Zhe "John" Liu (U.S. v. Zhe "John" Liu, CIT # 22-00215).
CBP’s interpretation of the drawback statute and programming of its ACE Drawback Module led to an "absurd" rejection of substitution unused merchandise drawback eligibility for an importer of civil aviation equipment that disregards the basic structure of the tariff schedule, Spirit Aerosystems said in a March 24 motion for summary judgment at the Court of International Trade (Spirit Aerosystems v. U.S., CIT # 20-00094).
The International Trade Commission issued a limited exclusion order barring robotic floor cleaning devices made by SharkNinja from importation. The investigation began in January 2021 with a complaint by iRobot, which alleged that SharkNinja imported robotic floor cleaners that infringed on five of iRobot's patents in “lower-quality" imitations (see 2103010021).
CBP can confer classification "treatment" on a good through consistent decisions at a single port, the Court of International Trade ruled March 24. Finding importer Kent International's imported child safety seats for bicycles should be classified as seats rather than bicycle parts, Judge Leo Gordon agreed with Kent that the Port of New York/Newark's consistent classification of them as seats constituted treatment on a "national basis" because the standard does not require treatment to have been applied at multiple ports, only that CBP not take inconsistent actions over a two-year period.
The International Trade Commission recently released Revision 2 to the 2023 Harmonized Tariff Schedule, adding four HTS subheadings under chapter 99 to implement Presidential Proclamation 10522 of Feb. 24, "Adjusting Imports of Aluminum Into the United States."
The International Trade Commission issued a notice terminating a Section 337 investigation on robotic pool cleaners. The commission said it will not review a pair of Feb. 21 initial determinations by Administrative Law Judge Cameron Elliot, which terminated the Aiper entities respondents based on a consent order and the remaining Wybotics respondents based on partial withdrawal of the complaint. The orders left no remaining respondents and so ended the entire investigation.
The International Trade Commission issued a notice ending a Section 337 investigation into imported flocked swabs. The commission voted to uphold the administrative law judge's October finding of no violation because complainant Copan failed to prove the technical prong of the domestic industry requirement for patent infringement. Copan originally brought the complaint in September 2021, alleging 26 companies in the U.S., China, Hong Kong and South Korea had violated three of its patents by copying its flocked swabs (see 2109010024).
Two separate motions for summary judgment in a case involving allegedly defective plywood were shot down by Court of International Trade Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves in a March 20 opinion. Choe-Groves found that Bral had not sufficiently made a case under the customs regulations that all its imported plywood was defective and should have been appraised at a lower value, but neither had DOJ proven otherwise.
Comments are due to the International Trade Commission by March 28 regarding a potential Section 337 investigation on landscape lighting devices, it said in a notice to be published March 20 in the Federal Register. The request for comments follows a March 10 complaint by New York lighting company Wangs Alliance Corp., doing business as WAC Lighting. The complaint alleges that Ohio-based Hinkley Lighting imports user-adjustable lights and fixtures that infringe on three of WAC Lighting's patents concerning waterproof exterior light fixtures. WAC has asked the ITC for a limited exclusion order and a cease and desist order against Hinkley.