A Wisconsin man filed a pro se lawsuit at the Court of International Trade challenging the president's ability to impose tariffs, arguing that any attempt by the president to levy import duties represents an improper delegation of power under the U.S. Constitution. The individual, Gary Barnes, said imposing tariffs "is not within the jurisdiction of the President's duties," noting that the power to levy tariffs rests solely with Congress (Gary L Barnes v. United States President Donald Trump, CIT # 25-00043).
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 27 - Feb. 2:
The U.S. on Feb. 3 brought a complaint against importer Shunny Corp., doing business as Sampac Enterprises, alleging that the company negligently misreported the country of origin of its health products to avoid import duties. The government is seeking nearly $200,000 in unpaid duties, along with a nearly $1.4 million penalty (United States v. Shunny Corp., CIT # 25-00039).
The Commerce Department is amending the final results of an antidumping duty administrative review on circular welded non-alloy steel pipe from South Korea (A-580-809) to revise its results so that they align with the Jan. 15 final decision in a court case that challenged rate calculations in those original final results. In that review, covering subject merchandise entered Nov. 1, 2019, through Oct. 31, 2020, Hyundai Steel Company was given a 1.97% AD rate, Husteel Co., Ltd. received a 4.07% AD rate, and 21 non-individually examined companies were given a review average rate of 3.21%.
CBP has released its Jan. 29 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 59, No. 5), which includes the following ruling actions:
Parts of brake discs used in airplanes are "parts of an aircraft" and properly classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8803, the Court of International Trade held on Jan. 30. Judge Mark Barnett said that since the parts are "used for no other purpose," require "no further processing prior" to their use in a brake disc and have "no other substantial commercial application," they should be classified as aircraft parts.
CBP unlawfully abused its authority by engaging in retaliation against employees of importer Eteros Technologies USA after the company succeeded at the Court of International Trade in overturning the agency's detention of its marijuana-related drug paraphernalia, Eteros alleged in a new complaint at the trade court (Eteros Technologies USA v. United States, CIT # 25-00036).
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 20-26:
The creation of an External Revenue Service (ERS) to collect tariffs, duties and other foreign trade-related revenues could result in realigning CBP so that the agency would fall under the Department of the Treasury instead of DHS, according to two ArentFox Schiff attorneys.
CBP has released its Jan. 22 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 59, No. 4). While it contains no ruling notices, it does include one decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and two Court of International Trade slip opinions.