DOJ under President Donald Trump likely will pursue greater criminal enforcement of the most recent tariffs imposed on China to serve as a "general deterrent" and "punish instances of serious misconduct," attorneys at BakerHostetler said in a recent post. In response, foreign parties should be "mindful of their potential criminal exposure," partners Artie McConnell, Jennifer Solari and Michael Snarr said.
President Donald Trump's decision to eliminate the duty-free de minimis threshold for goods from China, issued as part of his 10% tariff hike on Chinese products, likely will face legal challenges due to the economic importance of the de minimis rule, customs attorney Lawrence Friedman told us. However, many questions remain on the precise scope of any resulting change, along with the legal theory underpinning it.
International trade and customs attorney Jon Cowley has rejoined Baker McKenzie as a partner after working as principal counsel for trade and export at Apple, the firm announced. Cowley worked at Baker McKenzie during 2017-21 as a partner in the Hong Kong and Chicago offices. Before that, he was assistant general counsel for customs and international trade at Nike.
After President Donald Trump announced his sweeping tariff action on China under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as well as now-delayed IEEPA tariffs on Mexico and Canada, trade lawyers told us to expect the duties to be challenged in court. Matt Nicely, lead counsel in the ongoing case against tariffs imposed on China during Trump's first administration, said in an email that a legal challenge is coming, a sentiment echoed across the trade bar.
Parts of brake discs used in airplanes are "parts of an aircraft" and properly classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8803, the Court of International Trade held on Jan. 30. Judge Mark Barnett said that since the parts are "used for no other purpose," require "no further processing prior" to their use in a brake disc and have "no other substantial commercial application," they should be classified as aircraft parts.
CBP unlawfully abused its authority by engaging in retaliation against employees of importer Eteros Technologies USA after the company succeeded at the Court of International Trade in overturning the agency's detention of its marijuana-related drug paraphernalia, Eteros alleged in a new complaint at the trade court (Eteros Technologies USA v. United States, CIT # 25-00036).
Nicholas Czajkowski, a former trade analyst for the Commerce Department, has joined Schagrin Associates, the firm announced. Czajkowski worked at Commerce for over 20 years, conducting various trade remedy investigations, administrative reviews and new shipper reviews.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 20-26:
After the Trump administration released a memo outlining the scope of trade action to be taken during his term, one thing became clear, according to a variety of trade attorneys: antidumping duty and countervailing duty rates are about to soar.
Dan Stirk, former chief counsel for litigation in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, has joined Picard Kentz as counsel in the international trade practice, the firm announced. Stirk served as an attorney-adviser at USTR for nearly 18 years, covering World Trade Organization and free trade agreement dispute settlement proceedings, compliance proceedings and arbitration, the firm said.