The Court of International Trade on May 21 held a second hearing in as many weeks on the legality of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The same three judges, Jane Restani, Gary Katzmann and Timothy Reif, pressed both the government and counsel for 12 U.S. states challenging all IEEPA tariff actions on whether the statute allows for tariff action, as well as whether the courts can review if the declared emergencies are "unusual and extraordinary" and the extent to which the case is guided by Yoshida International v. U.S. (The State of Oregon v. Donald J. Trump, CIT # 25-00077).

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of May 12-18:

Former airline executive Skye Xu was sentenced to two years in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud Polar Air Cargo Worldwide of more than $32 million, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced on May 15. Xu pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The U.S. opened a civil suit against importers Aspects Furniture Manufacturing and Aspects Furniture International seeking nearly $7.7 million in unpaid antidumping duties on 99 entries of wooden bedroom furniture from China. The complaint also named Hospitality Engineering Services and the chief executive of all three companies, Amy Sivixay, as defendants, claiming that Hospitality and Sivixay are liable for the unpaid duties, since they controlled the actions of the two importers (United States v. Aspects Furniture Manufacturing, CIT # 25-00089).

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of May 5-11:

A Chinese company and three Chinese nationals were charged for their alleged roles in the illegal importation of "pill-making equipment," according to an indictment unsealed on May 12, DOJ announced. The company, CapsulCN International Co., and the individuals, Xiochuan "Ricky" Pan, Tingyan "Monica" Yang and Xi "Inna" Chen, were charged with smuggling and violating the Controlled Substances Act.

DOJ is adding certain trade violations to the list of “priority areas” for its whistleblower awards program, Matthew Galeotti, head of DOJ’s Criminal Division, said during an industry conference May 12, according to a copy of his prepared remarks.

The Trump administration on May 9 issued an executive order declaring that it will disfavor criminal enforcement of regulatory offenses in an effort to combat overregulation. Criminal customs enforcement likely won't be affected by the order, since the administration is placing a larger emphasis on trade enforcement and these cases arise out of statutes and not federal regulations, trade lawyers told us.

President Donald Trump last week signed an executive order aimed at reducing criminal enforcement of federal regulations, but it appears to carve out laws related to national security and defense.

CBP cannot unilaterally decide to reliquidate entries that were erroneously liquidated while subject to a suspension order from the Court of International Trade, the trade court held on May 8. Judge Gary Katzmann said an "enjoined party is not empowered to choose and implement the remedy for its own violations of an injunction," writing that that power is the court's alone.