The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of March 20-26 and March 27 - April 2:
Electronic goods with Chinese components such as notebooks, laptops and modems reimported to the U.S after undergoing repairs in Mexico are still subject to Section 301 tariffs on the repairs, even though the repairs are duty free under USMCA, CBP said in a February ruling.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai reassured the members of the National Council of Textile Organizations that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has no interest in loosening rules of origin for clothing made in Central America and the Dominican Republic. Some have argued that the CAFTA-DR has not lived up to its potential because its rules are too restrictive (see 2112030045 and 2104140047).
The Commerce Department seeks public comments on any subsidies, including stumpage subsidies, paid by certain countries that exported softwood lumber to the U.S. July 1 through Dec. 31, 2022, it said in a notice released March 29. The Softwood Lumber Act of 2008 requires Commerce to submit a report every 180 days on any subsidy provided by nations exporting softwood lumber or softwood products to the U.S., including subsidies for stumpage. Commerce is seeking input on subsidies paid by countries whose exports composed at least 1% of total U.S. softwood imports by quantity, as classified under tariff schedule subheadings 4407.1100, 4407.1200, 4407.1300, 4407.1400 and 4407.1900, the agency said. International Trade Commission Tariff and Trade DataWeb information indicates that six countries -- Austria, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Romania and Sweden -- exported that much softwood lumber to the U.S. during that six-month period. Comments are due May 1.
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 2305 on March 27, containing 24 ABI records and 5 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records. This update includes increased duties on certain articles from the Russian Federation and changes to HTS flagging, CBP said in a March 28 CSMS message.
The Court of International Trade on March 29 dismissed a lawsuit from cell phone case maker Otter Products seeking interest on customs duty overpayments, finding it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case. Judge Claire Kelly held that the Administrative Procedure Act waiver of sovereign immunity only applies to interest on deposits linked with liquidated entries. As a result, there is no specific waiver of immunity related to Otter's claim for interest for its overpayments on tendered prior disclosures "under the no-interest rule," Kelly said.
CBP’s interpretation of the drawback statute and programming of its ACE Drawback Module led to an "absurd" rejection of substitution unused merchandise drawback eligibility for an importer of civil aviation equipment that disregards the basic structure of the tariff schedule, Spirit Aerosystems said in a March 24 motion for summary judgment at the Court of International Trade (Spirit Aerosystems v. U.S., CIT # 20-00094).
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will begin requiring Lacey Act import declarations for a new set of plant materials and products beginning as early as spring 2024, it said in an emailed bulletin March 27. The agency is reviewing the tariff schedule to “determine the complete list of materials and products that will be included in Phase VII” of Lacey Act enforcement, and will publish a “complete list” in the fall of “materials and products” that will be newly subject to the import declaration requirement, it said. APHIS “will require declarations for those product codes 6 months” after it publishes the list, it said.
The Internal Revenue Service on March 27 released new proposed regulations to “provide guidance” on superfund excise taxes on imported chemicals and substances that took effect July 1 of last year. Comments are due May 30.
CBP can confer classification "treatment" on a good through consistent decisions at a single port, the Court of International Trade ruled March 24. Finding importer Kent International's imported child safety seats for bicycles should be classified as seats rather than bicycle parts, Judge Leo Gordon agreed with Kent that the Port of New York/Newark's consistent classification of them as seats constituted treatment on a "national basis" because the standard does not require treatment to have been applied at multiple ports, only that CBP not take inconsistent actions over a two-year period.