Second Nature Accuses DOJ of Delaying Tactics, Cites Constitutional Protection
Second Nature Designs accused the Justice Department of using delaying tactics in a tariff classification case involving dried botanicals imported in 2018. In a Feb. 18 filing, Second Nature alleged that DOJ waited nearly four years to file a motion for supplemental pleading in violation of the court's deadline. According to Second Nature, DOJ filed its answer to the case in April 2018 and then waited almost four years even though the required information was in DOJ's possession since it deposed Second Nature's president in Nov. 2018. Second Nature argued that the delay is "inexcusably untimely" and creates a "highly prejudicial counterclaim." The government can't substitute a new decision in litigation for the official liquidation decision of CBP, nor to demand increased or additional duties from the protestant, once the 90-day reliquidation period has passed, the company said.
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Second Nature also says that DOJ's counterclaim wouldn't survive a motion to dismiss because "allowance of the counterclaim would violate the equal protection clause of the Constitution." It also said allowing DOJ's counterclaim would trigger "serious Constitutional concerns" because the precedent set would mean that those who exercise their right to seek judicial review would be "subject to further loss of property and may be penalized for exercising a fundamental Constitutional right."