CBP has released two Customs Bulletins. The Aug. 20 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 59, No. 34) contains a modification of two ruling letters and revocation of treatment relating to the tariff classification of dimmers.
While many attorneys believe that one of the cases on the legality of President Donald Trump's tariffs is on a collision course with the Supreme Court, questions remain about exactly when the high court will review the case and in what form. One possibility would see the lead appeal, V.O.S. Selections v. Trump, which currently sits before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, head to the Supreme Court's emergency, or "shadow," docket.
The EU announced Aug. 28 that it had proposed a return to duty-free treatment for American lobster exports, and added processed lobster to that category, and to eliminate tariffs on American industrial goods and to provide preferential access for other U.S. seafood and what the EU called "non-sensitive agricultural goods."
CBP is ready to process the low-value packages that used to qualify for de minimis, officials said Aug. 28, hours before the change comes into effect.
Importer Cozy Comfort filed its opening brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Aug. 25, arguing that the Court of International Trade was wrong to find that the company's product, The Comfy, is a pullover and not a blanket (Cozy Comfort v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 25-1889).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP created Harmonized System Update 2533 on Aug. 25, containing 18 Automated Broker Interface records and six Harmonized Tariff Schedule records. The update includes additional duties on products of India pursuant to the president’s Executive Order 14329, effective Aug. 27 (see 2508250064).
A law professor from Georgetown University and a former Biden administration official have differing outlooks on the future of the lawsuits on tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act filed in courts. Professor Marty Lederman said he would be "very surprised" if the Federal Circuit or Supreme Court ruled against the government on non-delegation or major questions doctrine grounds. Lawyer and former federal official Peter Harrell, however, said that the courts may welcome an opportunity to curb executive power.
South Korea is likely waiting for a more definitive trade agreement with the U.S., especially as the two countries seem to reflect differing opinions on what deals have been affirmed, according to experts' observations of the Aug. 25 meeting at the White House between President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (see 2508250065).
CBP improperly classified certain toy lips as candy under Harmonized Tariff Schedule Chapter 17 instead of "other toys" under Chapter 95, said importer Imaginings, doing business as Flix Candy, in a complaint last week at the Court of International Trade. Flix said that while the lips consist of two components, the plastic lips and a candy lollipop, the lips give the item its "essential character" and thus qualify the goods for Chapter 95 classification (Imaginings 3, d/b/a Flix Candy v. United States, CIT # 21-00403).