The Court of International Trade failed to recognize that key facts in a customs fraud case are not in dispute, but if it had, the court "would likely have" come to a different conclusion over when the statute of limitations had run out for the U.S. to bring its case, defendants Greenlight Organic and Parambir Singh Aulakh argued. Filing a motion for rehearing Aug. 25, the defendants said the trade court committed an error when finding that a piece of evidence has to establish fraud for the statute of limitations to begin to run and not merely give allegations of misconduct to the government (United States v. Greenlight Organic, CIT #17-00031).
Country of origin cases
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in an Aug. 26 opinion rejected another group of appellants' appeal seeking to establish that the Commerce Department can make a particular market situation adjustment to the sales-below-cost test when finding normal value. The appellate court previously rejected this claim in Hyundai Steel v. U.S. The appellants, led by American Cast Iron Pipe Co., sought to differentiate its case from Hyundai Steel by arguing that its case appeals an original investigation while the Hyundai Steel matter challenged an administrative review.
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The Court of International Trade will put a temporary hold on liquidation of entries of aluminum extrusions imported by Kingtom Aluminio while it considers a preliminary injunction requested by a domestic industry group, it said in an Aug. 18 order (Aluminum Extrusions Fair Trade Committee v. United States, CIT # 22-00236).
Inconsistent documentation cost a manufacturer of plastic pallets, trays and lids duty-free treatment on returned items, CBP said in a June 13 HQ ruling addressed to the Automotive and Aerospace Center of Excellence and Expertise, directing it to deny a protest by ZF TRW Canada (ZF).
CBP and the Commerce Department engaged in several abuses of discretion in a prolonged Enforce and Protect Act investigation into alleged evasion of hardwood plywood, InterGlobal Forest (IGF) said in an Aug. 17 complaint at the Court of International Trade. IGF contests a January EAPA decision that found evidence of evasion and the June decision by CBP's Office of Regulations and Rulings that affirmed it (InterGlobal Forest v. United States, CIT # 22-00240).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruling to overturn a Court of International Trade decision that called into question the use of first sale treatment for imported goods involving non-market economy countries (see 2208110060) is largely seen as providing a welcome relief to importers, several law firms said. "For those importers enjoying the benefits of lower declared values and duties, particularly from China in light of Section 301 tariffs, there is no longer a need for concern now that, on appeal, the court has given first sale a nod," Sandler Travis lawyer Lenny Feldman said on a podcast. The original CIT decision (Meyer Corporation v. U.S., Fed. Cir. #21-1392) raised some concerns for the future of first sale treatment (see 2104200028).
The Commerce Department did give a Chinese cabinet exporter a fair chance when it continued to rely on adverse facts available despite a court order that invalidated the agency’s original reasoning for the AFA rate, the exporter said in an Aug. 15 brief opposing Commerce’s remand results (Dalian Meisen Woodworking v. U.S., CIT # 20-00109).