C.H. Robinson appealed the Court of International Trade’s November ruling finding the company liable for over $100,000 in unpaid duties, plus pre- and post-judgment interest, on wearing apparel from China entered for transportation and exportation (T&E) to Mexico but allegedly diverted into U.S. commerce. In the appealed opinion, CIT did not allege C.H. Robinson was party to the diversion scheme, but found that as carrier C.H. Robinson was liable for payment of the duties. C.H. Robinson provided proof of arrival at the port of exportation, but could not prove actual exportation of the merchandise after a CBP investigation indicated the merchandise was missing.

A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to 42 months in prison Jan. 17 for violations of the International Emergence Economic Powers Act, said the Department of Justice. Timothy Gormley failed to get Bureau of Industry and Security licenses for controlled items, and falsified documents to make it appear that he had obtained the required authorizations. According to DoJ, Gormley said he was swamped at work and too busy to go through the licensing process.

A Hong Kong man was arrested Jan. 14 at San Francisco International Airport on charges of selling stolen U.S. military equipment and smuggling that equipment and other items into the U.S., said Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Kwok Kuen Leung faces a maximum of 152 years if convicted.

The Court of International Trade granted the government’s motion to amend its complaint on the third try in an action seeking penalties from Active Frontier International for false country of origin statements on entry documentation. CIT denied the penalty action without prejudice in August, because the government didn’t prove that all of AFI’s misstatements were material, as required by 19 USC 1592 for imposition of a penalty. The government’s first motion to amend was denied in early October because it didn’t include the actual amended complaint, and its second motion to amend the complaint was withdrawn later that month.

The Court of International Trade ruled in favor of plaintiff GRK Canada in its challenge of CBP’s Harmonized Tariff Schedule Classification of its screws, arriving at General Rule of Interpretation 3(c) to do so. CBP had classified GRK’s screws under HTS subheading 7318.12.00 as “other wood screws,” dutiable at 12.5 percent. GRK protested, arguing its screws were instead correctly classified under HTS subheading 7318.14.10 as “self-tapping screws,” dutiable at 6.2 percent. CIT said the screws fit into both categories, and neither subheading more specifically describes the goods. So the tie went to the heading occurring last in numerical order per GRI 3(c), and GRK’s proposed “self-tapping screws” classification prevailed.

RichTek filed a cross-appeal with the Federal Circuit of the International Trade Commission’s Section 337 patent enforcement case on certain DC-DC controllers and products containing same (337-TA-698). In the ITC’s final determination, it levied a $620,000 fine against uPI Semiconductor for violations of a consent order. The administrative law judge had originally recommended a $750,000 fine. uPI Semiconductor filed its appeal Jan. 11.

uPI Semiconductor appealed the results of a Section 337 patent enforcement case that resulted in a $620,000 fine for the company. The International Trade Commission imposed the fine in November, after finding violations of a consent order in the Section 337 patent investigation of certain DC-DC controllers and products containing same (337-TA-698). Complainant Richtek had alleged uPI continued to import and sell the products in the U.S., in violation of a 2010 agreement that ended the investigation.

Marvin Furniture appealed the Court of International Trade’s dismissal of its challenge to a new shipper review of wooden bedroom furniture from China (A-570-890). The International Trade Administration rescinded the new shipper review for Marvin after it found entries of subject merchandise that predated the date of first entry listed in Marvin’s new shipper review request. Marvin argued that it had the statutory right to correct the filings, but CIT said that right only applies to information the ITA requests. Marvin, on the other hand, submitted the new shipper review request on its own accord. CIT later denied a rehearing of the case Jan. 9.

A product does not have to be manufactured in the U.S. for the licensee of that product to have access to the International Trade Commission’s import restrictions, said the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a denial of Nokia’s request for rehearing. A U.S. patent holder’s investment in research and licensing alone satisfies the domestic industry requirement, regardless of whether actual production is performed entirely abroad. In a dissent from the ruling, Judge Pauline Newman disagreed that no domestic production need take place to satisfy the domestic industry prong. Such an interpretation ignores Congressional intent to protect U.S. industry, even in cases where the U.S. industry is comprised of licensees rather than actual patent holders.

The Court of International Trade agreed to a request by the International Trade Administration to expand a remand of the 2009-10 antidumping administrative review of frozen warmwater shrimp from China (A-570-893) to address recent fraud allegations. The final results of the proceeding were originally remanded Nov. 30 for the ITA to better explain its selection of India as the surrogate country to value inputs used by Hilltop International during the review. After receiving a request for changed circumstances review that alleged fraud by Hilltop during the proceeding, the ITA asked CIT to broaden the remand’s scope. The ITA did not disclose the fraud allegations in this case, and Hilltop argued it was required to in order to have the scope expanded. The court, however, found it sufficient that there was no evidence the ITA’s request was made in bad faith.