Provisions of the tariff schedule referencing a “high proportion” of one component mean there is a “high ratio of that component compared to the other components,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said on Nov. 18 (here) as it affirmed a lower court ruling finding Tyco’s glass bulbs filled with liquid are articles of glass for tariff classification purposes. For Tyco’s glass bulbs, which have only two component parts and are mostly glass by weight, a high proportion is more than 50 percent, meaning the bulbs are glass articles for tariff classification purposes.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 3-7 in case they were missed.
Recent court decisions by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) threaten to close off a crucial avenue for judicial review of CBP ruling revocations and modifications, making it hard for importers to rely on rulings and violating Supreme Court precedent, said a lawyer representing Best Key, a Hong Kong manufacturer of yarn, in a Sept. 29 petition for a rehearing of the hearings by the full Federal Circuit. By directing Best Key to challenge classification via a denied protest, instead of allowing Best Key to challenge it under the Administrative Procedure Act, the Federal Circuit is preventing Best Key from challenging the process under which CBP revoked the ruling, John Peterson of Neville Peterson said in the petition. Best Key claims the ruling revocation process was tainted by the improper participation of its competitors.
Products are classifiable as “vitamins” in the tariff schedule if they are organic chemical micronutrients that are essential to humans but inadequately produced by the human body, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a decision issued Sept. 26 (here). CAFC reversed a 2015 ruling from the Court of International Trade that found carnitine imported by Sigma-Tau HealthScience is classifiable as a quaternary aluminum salt rather than a vitamin, holding that classification as a vitamin is correct because carnitine, though produced in sufficient amounts by adults, must be obtained from outside sources in newborn babies under four weeks old.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 19-25:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 12-18:
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 22-26 in case they were missed.
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Aug. 24 affirmed a lower court ruling that held cellphone cases imported by OtterBox are classifiable in the tariff schedule as generic “other” articles of plastic under chapter 39, dutiable at 5.3%, rather than as containers subject to a 20% duty rate (here). The appeals court agreed with a year-old Court of International Trade decision that found the cellphone cases do not meet most of the four criteria for classification as containers under heading 4202 -- organizing, storing, protecting, and carrying – and are also dissimilar from such containers because they are designed to allow use of the cellphone while inside the container (see 1506020062).
Screws imported by GRK Canada are classifiable in the tariff schedule as self-tapping screws, and not wood screws, the Court of International Trade said in a decision issued July 15 (here). Ruling on the case for the second time after the Federal Circuit, on appeal, controversially ordered CIT to consider the screws’ intended use (see 14080420), the trade court again concluded that GRK’s screws share the physical characteristics of self-tapping screws. This time, however, CIT also noted the screws’ suitability for use in materials other than wood.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 5-8 in case they were missed.