The Court of International Trade on Sept. 24 dismissed a lawsuit from an importer whose Generalized System of Preferences refund request was denied as late, even though the cause was a misunderstanding with the importer’s customs broker. Industrial Chemicals had missed the 180-day deadline to file requests for refunds of duties paid during the GSP lapse of 2013-15. The importer had through a series of emails understood that its broker would request the refunds, and vice versa. After its eventual refund request was denied because it was filed after the deadline, Industrial Chemicals had protested, arguing the issue amounted to a “clerical error, mistake of fact, or other inadvertence.” CBP denied the protest in a ruling issued in November 2017 (see 1711170036). The trade court agreed, finding CBP’s decision was not protestable. The law renewing GSP “clearly states that importers must submit requests for retroactive application of GSP over certain entries by December 28, 2015,” CIT said. “Although Customs makes certain decisions related to the liquidation or reliquidation of merchandise, the plain language of the statute does not appear to give Customs discretion in administering refunds for this particular lapse in GSP,” it said.
CBP recently posted its “estimated schedule” for upcoming deployments in ACE. Made possible by an additional $34 million in appropriations set aside for CBP ACE development this year (see 1805010035), agency development priorities include Section 321 filing capabilities in the Automated Broker Interface and automation of collection of CBP Form 5106 importer identity information (see 1805230061).
The Court of International Trade declined to grant summary judgments sought by both parties in a lawsuit over the correct classification of Ziploc plastic bags. CIT Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves ruled that "because genuine issues of material fact remain unresolved, the court denies the cross-motions for summary judgment and the case shall proceed to trial." The case involves Ziploc bags imported from Thailand through the Port of Los Angles in 2013. S.C. Johnson & Son, represented by Pisani & Roll, challenged CBP's classification of the bags as “articles for the conveyance or packing of goods” in heading 3923. S.C. Johnson argues that the bags are better classified in heading 3924 as “other household articles.” While CIT denied the summary judgment requests, it declined to address the classification arguments, including whether Generalized System of Preferences benefits apply.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative should expand its use of the Generalized System of Preferences to encourage beneficiaries to make policy and enforcement changes, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said in a report released Aug. 20. The agency's foreign trade barrier and intellectual property reports should more directly guide decisions "to self-initiate reviews of whether GSP beneficiaries are breaching the program’s trade, market access, or intellectual property criteria," the ITIF said. The USTR is already reviewing GSP benefits for Indonesia, India, Kazakhstan, Thailand and Turkey over various issues (see 1808150034).
ATLANTA -- China's inaction in the face of accusations of unfair trade practices continues to drive the dispute between it and the U.S., Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish said while speaking at the CBP 2018 Trade Symposium on Aug. 15. "I recognize that many of you may have concerns about the tariffs being imposed. However, I can assure you these actions were not taken lightly," he said. The tariffs follow many years of failed discussions with the Chinese, including under the current administration, "in which the Chinese had repeatedly made commitments to correct their harmful, unfair and distortive actions and then refused to honor those commitments," he said.
President Donald Trump said he will double tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum because of the movement of the Turkish lira. " Aluminum will now be 20% and Steel 50%," he tweeted. "Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!" The Turkish Embassy did not immediately respond with a comment. The country is also facing potential removal from the Generalized System of Preferences due to its tariffs on U.S. goods in response to the Section 232 tariffs (see 1808060021).
Turkey, which exported about $1.66 billion in goods duty free through the Generalized System of Preferences last year, may be barred from the program after a review at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The value of Turkish imports that come in duty free through GSP has increased by nearly 50 percent in five years, according to USTR data.
The Commerce Department issued the preliminary results of its antidumping duty administrative review on tapered roller bearings and parts thereof from China (A-570-601). In the final results of this review, Commerce will set assessment rates for subject merchandise from the 19 companies under review entered June 2016 through May 2017.
The Department of Justice and Temple St. Clair reached a $796,000 settlement to resolve allegations of civil fraud, the DOJ said in a news release. Temple St. Clair, "a fine jewelry designer, manufacturer, and importer based in New York, New York," was alleged to have undervalued its goods at import, the DOJ said. The company's senior leadership also allegedly carried jewelry, including a pendant valued at $83,000, into the U.S. for commercial purposes without declaration, the DOJ said. The lawsuit was initiated by a whistleblower under the False Claims Act, it said.