Boronized steel tubes made in the U.S. are unfinished steel goods, not repaired articles, DOJ argued in a Jan. 20 counterclaim that is seeking $760,000 in unpaid duties at the Court of International Trade in a denied protest case filed by an importer (Maple Leaf Marketing v. United States, CIT # 20-03839).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a Jan. 23 order denied plaintiff-appellants' motion for an expedited briefing schedule in an attorney conflict-of-interest case. Peter Marksteiner, clerk of the court, said that while the appellants, led by Amsted Rail Company, could "self-expedite the filing of their briefs," they failed to show that an expedited briefing was necessary (Amsted Rail Company v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1355).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit proposes to amend eight of its rules of practice and four of its practice notes, it said in a Jan. 20 update. The court previously delayed the implementation of the amendments (see 2211170033). The amendments would alter rules 26, 30, 31, 33, 33.1, 34, 39 and 47.6, and the practice notes to rules 34, 42, 47.5 and 47.6. If adopted, the amendments would take effect March 1. Comments are due by Feb. 21.
Two businessmen -- Russian national Vladislav Osipov and British national Richard Masters -- were charged for their roles in a sanctions evasion and money laundering scheme connected with the ownership and operation of the $90 million superyacht Tango, DOJ announced. The yacht is owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Per the terms of the indictments unsealed Jan. 20 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Osipov and Masters are accused of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and commit offenses against the U.S., violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and money laundering, DOJ said.
The Supreme Court of the U.S. held oral arguments on Jan. 17 over Turkish state-owned Halkbank's claims that the U.S. judicial system does not have the jurisdiction to hear criminal cases against foreign governments and their state-owned entities. Halkbank is attempting to shirk prosecution over its efforts to help Iran evade U.S. sanctions in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The bank's arguments received a mixed reaction from the Supreme Court, with numerous justices expressing doubt over the plaintiff's claims that it is immune from criminal prosecution under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. U.S., #21-1450).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit should reject plaintiff-appellants' bid for an expedited briefing schedule in an attorney conflict-of-interest case, defendant-intervenor-appellee Coalition of Freight Rail Coupler Producers argued in a Jan. 19 reply brief. The appellants, led by Amsted Rail Co., have failed to both establish good cause to expedite the appeal and show that they will suffer irreparable harm absent the accelerated schedule, since the underlying injury proceeding at the International Trade Commission will be subject to judicial review after the proceeding is finished, the coalition said (Amsted Rail Co. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1355).
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Jan. 18 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 World Trade Organization published the agenda for the Jan. 27 meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body. It includes U.S. status reports on the implementation of DSB recommendations on antidumping measures on certain hot-rolled steel products from Japan; antidumping and countervailing measures on large residential washers from South Korea; certain methodologies and their application to antidumping proceedings involving China; antidumping and countervailing duties on ripe olives from Spain; and Section 110(5) of the U.S. Copyright Act. A status report also is expected from Indonesia on measures related to the import of horticultural products, animals and animal products; and from the EU on measures affecting the approval and marketing of biotech products, and on safeguard measures on certain steel products.
The Court of International Trade in a Jan. 18 opinion sent back an antidumping review over the Commerce Department's decision to reject AD petitioner Nucor Tubular's ministerial error comments as untimely. Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves said the exception to the requirement that comments be timely filed applies in this case since Commerce's "unintentional errors became apparent only in the Final Results" of the AD review. Since Nucor should have been allowed to submit its comments on the ministerial error, the court remanded the review to consider the error "and respond accordingly," the judge said.