The Court of International Trade has issued a decision in the case Michael Simon Design, Inc. v. U.S. which upholds the importer's view that sweaters with certain Christmas or Halloween motifs are classified as "festive articles" in Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) 9505 (duty- and quota-free).
In California Industrial Products, Inc. v. United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that based upon Customs' prior favorable treatment of substantially identical transactions and its failure to conduct notice and comment proceedings before changing that prior treatment, CIP was entitled to substitution manufacturing drawback (19 USC 1313(b)) on its steel scrap exports.
On May 18, 2006, the International Trade Administration (ITA) issued a notice amending its final antidumping (AD) duty determination for certain hot-rolled flat-rolled carbon quality steel from Japan for Nippon, as there is now a final and conclusive decision in the court proceeding.
In Corrpro Cos. v. United States, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the CIT, ruling that Customs did not make a protestable decision as to North American Free Trade Agreement ((NAFTA) eligibility.
In Motorola, Inc. v. U.S., the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit agreed with the Court of International Trade and ruled that Customs correctly classified eight models of circuits used in battery packs for cell phones under HTS 8536.30.80 (3.2%) as other apparatus for protecting electrical circuits.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a Customs Bulletin notice advising interested parties that, effective April 5, 2006, CBP is limiting the application of the decisions of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) and the Court of International Trade (CIT) in Park B. Smith Ltd. vs. U.S. (Park) to the specific cotton woven table linen and cotton woven dhurry rug entries before the courts in that litigation.1
In Timber Products Co., v. U.S., the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) declined to affirm the Court of International Trade's (CIT's) determination that certain Brazilian plywood made from wood of differing species is classifiable under HTS 4412.14.30 (1997) a residual provision for plywood rather than under HTS 4412.13.40 (1997, duty-free), which includes plywood made in part from Virola wood. The case is remanded to the CIT as the CAFC believes it misconstrued the requirements for establishing a commercial meaning for "Virola."
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) states that it has removed from its Web site the Informed Compliance Publications (ICPs) on (1) classification of marble, and (2) enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR).
In U.S. v. Ford Motor Company (Ford), the Court of International Trade (CIT) granted Ford's motion to dismiss certain U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) claims for a repayment of duties in the amount of $5,275,329 under 19 USC 1592(d), as the statute of limitations had expired.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an interim rule on the time period and other requirements for requesting refunds of any excess customs duties paid on entries of a country's textile or apparel goods that are entitled to the retroactive application of preferential tariff treatment under the Dominican Republic - Central America - U.S. Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA).