The Commerce Department's remand results finding that a South Korean authority did not provide electricity below cost in a countervailing duty investigation does not properly apply an "adequate remuneration" standard, plaintiff-appellant Nucor Corp. told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Filing its opening brief in its appeal, Nucor said that while Commerce does identify an adequate remuneration standard that could address the Federal Circuit's prior holding on the agency's sole reliance on a preferential rates analysis, the standard is not properly applied (POSCO v. United States, Fed. Cir. #22-1525).
CBP incorrectly denied U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement eligibility to jewelry imported by AAA Jewelers, the importer said in a complaint filed May 9 with the Court of International Trade. AAA Jewelers says its 21-karat and 22-karat gold jewelry pieces were manufactured in Oman and should qualify as Omani originating goods because the total value of materials produced plus the direct costs aren't less than 35% of the appraised value of the goods at the time of entry into the U.S. as required by General Note 31. AAA Jewelers said that the non-originating gold and copper are substantially transformed three separate times in Oman. The first transformation occurs when the 24-karat bars are alloyed with copper to reduce the gold content down to 21- and 22-karat gold, then again when the gold alloy is further processed and manufactured into gold wire, castings and stampings, and finally when the wire, castings and stampings are turned into the finished jewelry.
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CBP began a formal investigation of Charman Manufacturing for allegedly evading antidumping duty order A-570-881 on malleable cast iron pipe fittings from China when importing pipe fittings into the U.S., the agency said a notice released May 5.
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
CBP violated the law when it imposed antidumping and countervailing duties, Section 301 China tariffs, merchandise processing fees and harbor maintenance fees on importer Richmond International Forest Products' (RIFP's) hardwood plywood imports since the entries were made in Cambodia and not China, the importer said. In three separate but very similar complaints filed at the Court of International Trade, RIFP argued that CBP ignored evidence revealing that the hardwood plywood was made in Cambodia, thereby abusing its discretion when it imposed a host of duties on the products (Richmond International Forest Products v. United States, CIT #21-00063, #21-00318, #21-00319).
Section 232 national security tariffs are not remedial and are in fact ordinary customs duties, meaning they should be deducted from an antidumping duty respondent's U.S. price, the U.S. argued in a reply brief at the Court of International Trade. Responding to exporter Nippon Steel Corporation's arguments attempting to overturn the trade court's prior ruling on the issue in three other cases, DOJ argued that Section 232 duties are imposed to address imports that threaten national security and not to boost the economic welfare of U.S. industries, making them non-remedial (Nippon Steel Corporation v. United States, CIT #21-00533).
DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission settled a case against Lithionics Battery and its founder and owner, Steven Tartaglia, accusing them of falsely claiming that their battery and battery module products were made in the U.S., DOJ announced May 4. Lithionics and Tartaglia agreed to pay $105,319.56 in civil penalties (U.S. v. Lithionics Battery, M.D. Fla. #8:22-00868).
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
Washington state did not simply remove the threat of prosecution over the possession and distribution of marijuana and marijuana "paraphernalia," and in fact legalized it, making importer Keirton USA's import of marijuana "drug paraphernalia" legal, the importer argued in a May 2 reply brief at the Court of International Trade. CBP tried to argue that the importation of such paraphernalia was illegal since Washington merely decriminalized possession of the materials rather than legalizing it. Keirton argued that this is untrue and that CBP admitted as much in a headquarters ruling (Keirton USA v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CIT #21-00452).