Temperature screening devices that include infrared cameras are properly classified as thermometers rather than digital cameras, other optical appliances, or instruments measuring or checking quantities of heat, CBP found in a recently released headquarters ruling that instructed the port to grant an importer's protest.

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The inability of CBP to stop all goods made with Uyghur forced labor was one of the focuses of a trade hearing hosted on Staten Island by the House Ways and Means Committee, and when committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., asked a witness what more could be done to crack down, Uyghur activist Nury Turkel said the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act should be expanded to cover all of China.

The Court of International Trade granted importer Sonos' bid to voluntarily dismiss its case seeking Section 301 refunds on imports of wireless speakers and audio components. Sonos claimed that its imports were granted exclusions to the China tariffs and CBP failed to refund the duties, which totalled over $229,000 (see 2212120056). Erik Smithweiss, counsel for Sonos, said the matter was resolved administratively (Sonos v. United States, CIT # 22-00337).

The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated May 2 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):

CBP illegally denied importer Atlas Power's protest claiming its NVIDIA CMP 170HX printed circuit assemblies were exempt from Section 301 duties, Atlas said in a complaint at the Court of International Trade. The importer said its assemblies, classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 8473.30.1180, qualify for a Section 301 exclusion for unfinished logic boards (Atlas Power v. U.S., CIT # 23-00084).

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative was within its discretion when it declined to reinstate a Section 301 tariff exclusion on water coolers even after the only opposing party withdrew its comments, the DOJ said in an April 28 response to DS Services of America's remand comments at the Court of International Trade (DS Services of America v. United States, CIT # 22-00157).

Heat-treated forged steel rods imported by ME Global are properly classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule as "other bars" not further worked than forged, rather than in the importer's preferred classification as "grinding balls and similar articles for mills," the Court of International Trade ruled in a May 2 decision.

Complex composite temperature screening devices are properly classified as thermometers of Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 9025 and are excluded from Section 301 duties under secondary tariff number 9903.88.12 CBP, ruled in a recently released headquarters ruling. The items at issue consisted of an infrared camera, a visual imaging camera, a temperature reference source, an ethernet cable, a power adapter and a power cord.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said he'll use the 2021 trade title from the Senate China package as his committee works on its contribution to a second China package envisioned by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to address economic competition with China and to deter Chinese aggression toward Taiwan.