CBP did not violate importer Diamond Tools Technology's due process rights when it found that the company evaded antidumping duties on diamond sawblades from China, the Court of International Trade said in an Oct. 29 opinion, made public Nov. 5. However, Judge Timothy Reif did remand the case to CBP, finding that the actual finding of evasion was not supported as there was no "material and false statement" made by DTT. The judge also upheld CBP's authority to find that DTT's entries that pre-dated the start date of a related anti-circumvention inquiry are "covered merchandise."
The Court of International Trade erred when it took "bypass" liquidations into its consideration of treatment previously afforded importer Kent International's children's bicycle seats, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a Nov. 3 opinion. Remanding the issue to the trade court, a three-judge panel at the Federal Circuit, however, upheld CIT's determination that there was no de facto "established and uniform practice" (EUP) regarding the customs classification of kids' bike seats.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Oct. 25-31:
Chinese appliance manufacturer Gree Electric Appliances Inc. and two of its subsidiaries pleaded guilty to failing to tell the Consumer Product Safety Commission that millions of its dehumidifiers it sold to U.S. customers were defective and could catch fire, the Department of Justice said. Resolving the first corporate criminal enforcement actions ever brought under the Consumer Product Safety Act, Gree entered into a deferred prosecution agreement, agreeing to pay a total penalty of $91 million and provide restitution for any uncompensated victims of fires caused by the dehumidifiers.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Oct. 18-24:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Oct. 11-17:
The Court of International Trade granted the Department of Justice's motion to stay a case challenging the expansion of Section 232 duties on steel and aluminum “derivatives,” in an Oct. 14 order, due in part to the defendant's likelihood of succeeding on appeal. Finding that a recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit opinion indicates DOJ's chances of success at the appellate court, CIT also stayed any resulting liquidation but noted that the fact pattern in the present case reads differently from that of the recent Federal Circuit case.
The Court of International Trade doesn't have jurisdiction over cases in which CBP seized goods, Judge Gary Katzmann ruled in an Oct. 7 order. Instead, jurisdiction in these instances lies exclusively with federal district courts, the judge said. Since the seizure of an import does not deem a product excluded, and thus precludes any protestable event, jurisdiction at CIT is barred for seized goods, the court found.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 27 - Oct. 3:
Shine Shipping and Shine International (Shine), companies that arrange for the shipment of goods with vessel operating carriers, were found not to be directly liable for the shipment of counterfeit Nike footwear by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, in a Sept. 30 opinion (Nike, Inc. v. B&H Customs Services, Inc., et al., S.D.N.Y. #20-01214).