Hemp cones, tubes and wraps marketed for use with “tobacco-free herbal blends” and featuring warning statements that they shouldn’t be used with illegal drugs or tobacco aren’t restricted merchandise and may be imported into the U.S., CBP said in a recent ruling.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of April 8-14:
A recent bill from House Ways and Means Committee member Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, would change the drawback statute so that items that have a Harmonized Tariff Schedule description beginning with "other" no longer would be ineligible for unused substitution drawback, drawback expert Dave Corn said.
The Court of International Trade on April 10 rejected the preferred tariff classification of notebooks with calendars from both CBP and importer Blue Sky the Color of Imagination, slotting the products under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 4820.10.20.10 as "diaries." Judge Jane Restani explained that the court should prefer readings of the HTS that establish "conformity" across both the English and French translations of the Harmonized System.
The Court of International Trade on April 10 said that neither the U.S. nor importer Blue Sky the Color of Imagination properly classified entries of four types of notebooks with calendars, ultimately finding that the products fit under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 4820.10.20.10 as "diaries." Judge Jane Restani said that the Harmonized System should be interpreted to provide "conformity" between the French and English versions of the HS. As a result, the judge looked to the French and English definitions of the term "diary," which both describe as a notebook to write what one proposes or remembers what to do.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of March 25-31 and April 1-7:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 8 dismissed importer Rimco's challenge of antidumping and countervailing duties on its steel wheel entries, for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 4 sustained the Commerce Department's decision that Australian exporter BlueScope Steel (AIS) didn't reimburse its affiliated U.S. importer, BlueScope Steel Americas, for antidumping duties. Judges Kimberly Moore, Todd Hughes and Leonard Stark echoed the Court of International Trade in finding that it would have been "unreasonable" for the exporter to include the AD in the price charged to the importer because the "exporter itself was not responsible for those duties."
The Court of International Trade on April 1 granted the New Zealand government's motion to dissolve a preliminary injunction banning its fish exports in a challenge to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 2020 findings that New Zealand's standards for its West Coast North Island inshore trawl and set net fisheries were comparable to U.S. regulations.
The U.S. brought a customs penalty suit against importer E-Dong U.S.A. for failure to pay federal excise tax on entries of soju bottles from South Korea. Filing a complaint March 28 at the Court of International Trade, the government said that the company entered the soju, a Korean spirit, via "material or false statement" by failing to reference any of the owed excise tax (U.S. v. E-Dong, U.S.A., CIT # 24-00066).