A California customs broker was sentenced on Dec. 18 to 51 months in prison for defrauding importers, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced. Frank Seung Noah owned and operated customs brokerage Comis International and also was ordered to pay $7,579,141 in restitution.
Ceratizit USA, a North Carolina-based tungsten carbide distributor, agreed to pay $54.4 million to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act by "knowingly and improperly failing to pay duties owed on tungsten carbide products" from China, DOJ announced.
As importers everywhere await the Supreme Court's final decision on the fate of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, more and more attorneys are counseling their clients to file preemptive lawsuits at the Court of International Trade to guarantee their right to a refund of the IEEPA tariffs.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of Dec. 1-7 and 8-14:
Angela Ellard, former deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization, has joined the Center for Strategic and International Studies as a nonresident senior adviser with its Economic Security and Technology Department, the think tank announced Dec. 15. Ellard joined WTO as deputy director-general in 2021 after serving as chief trade counsel for the House Committee on Ways and Means.
The Court of International Trade's recent decision finding that no protests are needed to file suit under Section 1581(i) seeking refunds from tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act "applies solely to pending court cases at this time," said attorneys at Grunfeld Desiderio. Protests may have to be filed if the Supreme Court strikes down the tariffs and CBP has not taken other steps to effect relief.
The Court of International Trade denied a group of importers' motion for a preliminary injunction against liquidation of their entries subject to tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act on the basis that the trade court has the power to order reliquidation of the entries if the Supreme Court strikes down the IEEPA tariffs.
The Court of International Trade on Dec. 12 denied the government's motion for reconsideration of the trade court's previous decision to vacate CBP's finding that Dominican exporter Kingtom Aluminio made its aluminum extrusions with forced labor. Although Judge Timothy Reif said he made a mistake of fact in the initial decision, the mistake was a "harmless error," and that no mistake of law was made.
The U.S. on Dec. 11 filed its opposition to a motion for a preliminary injunction in dozens of cases filed by Crowell & Moring seeking refunds of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (AGS Company Automotive Solutions v. United States, CIT Consol. # 25-00255).
CBP improperly denied importer Software Brokers of America, doing business as Intcomex, the temporary exclusion from International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs on China for in-transit merchandise, the importer argued in a Dec. 5 complaint at the Court of International Trade (Software Brokers of America d/b/a Intcomex v. United States, CIT # 25-00381).