The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Dec. 2-8:
CBP is hoping to begin its risk-based bonding program for new importers of merchandise subject to antidumping and countervailing duties in March 2020, but there still remain some thorny issues that need to be ironed out. The agency is still working on ACE enhancements, including identifiers and queries for new importers, said Lisa Gelsomino, of Avalon Risk Management, at the Dec. 4 meeting of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC).
Some trade remedy exclusions are regulations, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act when it revoked a solar cells safeguard exemption without first putting it up for public notice and comment, the Court of International Trade said on Dec. 5 as it approved a preliminary injunction that keeps the exemption in effect.
Another group of steel importers filed a broad legal challenge to Section 232 tariffs on iron and steel products on Dec. 3, this time alleging that the measures are based on a faulty Commerce Department report and should be terminated by court order and refunded.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 25 - Dec. 1:
A group of interrelated diamond sawblade manufacturers and importers that had been found by CBP to be evading antidumping duties now faces allegations of racketeering in a lawsuit filed Nov. 25 in a federal court in Indianapolis. The Diamond Sawblades Manufacturers’ Coalition says the Diamond Tools Technology (DTT) and Wanbang USA, both based in the U.S., as well as China-based Wuhan Wanbang, DTT Thailand and DTT Canada, employed wire fraud and mail fraud in a conspiracy to avoid payment of AD duties.
Laser phosphor displays imported by Prysm for integration into a display wall system are classifiable as finished monitors, and not parts of monitors, the Court of International Trade said in a Nov. 26 decision. The LPDs are each capable of displaying an image, and can’t be considered parts of a larger whole because there is no uniform configuration of which a single LPD can be considered a part, CIT said.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 18-24:
An importer’s owner and executive can’t be automatically held liable for customs fraud penalties only by virtue of their position in the company, the Court of International Trade said in a Nov. 25 decision. Specific facts must link the corporate officer to any allegations of customs fraud, CIT said as it granted a motion to dismiss a penalty case brought against an apparel importer and its owner.
The Food and Drug Administration should harness blockchain, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies to address food safety issues in quickly evolving supply chains, and customs brokers will play a central role in facilitating adoption and the correct use of these new technologies by smaller and medium-sized operations, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in comments recently submitted to FDA.