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FMC Dismisses Claim That Firm Failed to Deliver Shipments

A Federal Maritime Commission administrative law judge on Dec. 16 dismissed a complaint against U.S. Cargo Services, saying New York City-based apparel importer Phillip Marciano LLC failed to show that a Shipping Act violation occurred.

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The importer had accused U.S. Cargo of failing to deliver three shipments from Bangladesh and India containing $231,433 worth of apparel products after they cleared U.S. Customs in March and April. It said U.S. Cargo was holding the items “hostage” to force it to pay for unrelated past-due charges.

U.S. Cargo countered that it had no role in two of the shipments and that the one shipment it was involved in was under the control of a third party, Deal Zone NY, which Phillip Marciano is suing in a related federal court case. U.S. Cargo said it had no contractual relationship with the complainant and that its only dealings were with Deal Zone, which acted as the shipper. The FMC judge granted U.S. Cargo’s motion to dismiss, saying the firm was required to follow the shipper's instructions.