The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a text-only Oct. 4 note told counsel in the massive Section 301 litigation to review the court's revised calendar for December 2024 through May 2025 to check for scheduling conflicts. The move indicates that the case won't be heard during the court's November sitting and will be heard during the first full week of December at the earliest. Matt Nicely, counsel for the plaintiffs, confirmed that the case won't be heard in November and is hopeful for a December oral argument, though he said a decision on the hearing date won't be known "for a couple weeks" (HMTX Industries v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1891).

The Court of International Trade on Oct. 7 sent a customs classification dispute on truck steps to a bench trial after finding that the undisputed facts are insufficient for conducting a principal use analysis on whether the products are "side protective attachments." Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves held that while a Section 301 exclusion for "side protective attachments" is a principal use provision, and not a provision for an individual product, the court can't at this time properly assess the imports at issue under a principal use framework.

The Court of International Trade on Oct. 7 sent a customs classification dispute on truck steps to a bench trial after finding that the undisputed facts are insufficient for conducting a principal use analysis on whether the products are "side protective attachments." Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves held that while a Section 301 exclusion for "side protective attachments" is a principal use provision, and not a provision for an individual product, the court can't at this time properly assess the imports at issue under a principal use framework.

Sandler Travis managing partner Lenny Feldman said that CBP decided to delay an ACE validation for de minimis shipments to a recipient that would exceed $800 a day, because "they realized when this hits, there's going to be a significant amount of cargo that's going to be above the threshold."

The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated between Sept. 23 and Sept. 28 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):

The Court of International Trade on Oct. 1 ordered that an evidentiary hearing be held on Oct. 16 in a suit from importer Retractable Technologies on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's 100% Section 301 tariff hike on needles and syringes. The importer filed the suit to seek a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction on the duties, claiming the tariffs could send it out of business (see 2409270025) (Retractable Technologies v. United States, CIT # 24-00185).

The following lawsuit was recently filed at the Court of International Trade:

The Court of International Trade on Sept. 30 granted a pair of voluntary dismissal motions from importer Travelway Group International on its two import classification cases. Both cases sought Section 301 exclusions for its backpack and bag entries of Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheadings 4202.92.3120 and 4202.92.3131. Counsel for Travelway didn't immediately respond to request for comment (Travelway Group International v. United States, CIT #s 22-00313, 23-00057).

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 23-29:

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.