Importer Mitsubishi Power Americas’ catalyst blocks were filters or purifiers and properly classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8421, not “other” catalytic reactors under 3815, the Court of International Trade ruled April 29.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of March 17-23, March 23-30, March 31 - April 6, April 7-13, April 14-20 and April 21-27:

The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:

Tariff rates above 200% essentially function “as an import ban” for some members of the American Apparel and Footwear Association because, at that price point, “companies don’t ship, they don’t import, they don’t make, they don’t buy,” the trade association’s head said on the Trade Guys podcast April 29.

Cable importer Cyber Power Systems brought two more classification disputes to the Court of International Trade April 28 (see 2504010067 and 2305170023 (Cyber Power Systems (USA) Inc. v. United States, CIT # 21-00199).

Auto companies are feeling like they're being yanked around with ever-changing tariffs, said Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., who was a senior public affairs executive at GM before becoming a politician. "Every business, whether small business or large business, needs certainty," she said, but instead, lawyers are scrambling to figure out what the impact is of the changing tariffs. She said she has talked to lawyers every day since this began.

The Court of International Trade ruled April 29 that importer Mitsubishi Power Americas’ catalyst blocks, which chemically convert nitrous oxide from industrial pollutant emitters into nitrogen and water, were filters, not “other” catalytic reactors. It acknowledged that Mitsubishi had defined a Section 301 exclusion for “other” catalytic reactors based on the products, but said the importer had been on notice that its products might not be covered by the language of the exclusion because the language of the exclusions themselves, not product descriptions contained in the exclusion requests, define what's subject to the exclusions (Mitsubishi Power Americas v. United States, CIT # 21-00573).

Former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who served in that role in President Donald Trump's first term, told an audience at the Council on Foreign Relations that he thinks "there’s a reasonable chance the CIT would enjoin" tariffs levied under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. Trump used IEEPA to levy 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico over fentanyl and migration, as well as 20% tariffs on China over fentanyl, and used it to levy 10% tariffs on countries other than those three, and an additional 125% tariffs on Chinese goods.

In its annual report on how foreign countries honor intellectual property protections, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative added Mexico to its Priority Watch List of the worst offenders, while Argentina, China, India, Indonesia, Chile, Russia and Venezuela remain on the list from last year.

Automakers who build cars in America and import parts to do so will get a partial credit against the costs of 25% Section 232 tariffs on non-USMCA qualifying parts -- but the Commerce Department will examine companies' projections of both how many cars and light trucks they expect to build in the U.S. between April 3, 2025, and April 30, 2026, and the aggregate value of the MSRP of those vehicles.