The U.S.'s case looking to collect on a bond due 14 years ago is prohibited under the doctrine of impairment of suretyship, surety Aegis Security Insurance Company argued in a reply brief at the Court of International Trade. Since CBP "unreasonably delayed" in looking to collect on a bond that liquidated in 2006, interest liability was created "that was entirely unnecessary, and impaired Defendant's rights against third parties." CBP's action barred any possible recourse against the main obligor and its reinsurer, so by the time Aegis was billed, "the importer was nowhere to be found," necessitating a finding of impairment of suretyship, the brief said (United States v. Aegis Security Insurance Co., CIT #20-03628).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in an Oct. 28 order consolidated two appeals of a lower court opinion dismissing importer Dr. Bronner's complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction over xanthan gum imports, dismissing GLoB Energy Corp.'s complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and denying the remaining motions for judgment on the agency record. One case was appealed from the Court of International Trade by Ascencion Chemicals, UMD Solutions and Crude Chem Technology, while the other was brought by GLoB (All God One Faith, dba Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps v. United States, Fed. Cir. #23-1078).
CBP misclassified Home Depot U.S.A.'s imports of residential door knobs packaged with at least one deadbolt, Home Depot argued in two Oct. 31 complaints at the Court of International Trade. The retail giant originally launched the cases in 2014, just now bringing the complaints to the court to vie for a change in classification for the door knobs under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, which would see the duty rates for the imports drop from 5.7% to 3.9% (Home Depot U.S.A. v. United States, CIT #14-00122, #14-00123).
The Court of International Trade in an Oct. 31 order dismissed a customs case after counsel for plaintiff Guangdong Hongteo Technology Co.'s second attempt to withdraw from the proceeding, given Hongteo's failure to respond to its counsel (Guangdong Hongteo Technology Co. v. United States, CIT #20-03776).
Specialty medical foods designed for infants and toddlers should be classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. heading 2106 as "food preparations" rather than as "medicaments," DOJ argued in an Oct. 28 motion for summary judgment at the Court of International Trade (Nutricia North America v. U.S., CIT #16-00008).
The Court of International Trade should dismiss a case challenging several Commerce Department actions around the antidumping duty investigation on tomatoes from Mexico, which was subject to suspension agreements, since the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has already ruled on the large remaining questions in the case, the U.S. argued in an Oct. 28 reply brief. The plaintiffs, led by Bioparques de Occidente, have not conformed to the Federal Circuit opinion, and their claims are "jurisdictionally defective," the brief said (Bioparques de Occidente v. United States, CIT Consol. #19-00204).
The U.S. is using a spat over whether surety company American Home Assurance Co. can use a laches defense in a customs penalty case "as a red herring" to turn the Court of International Trade's attention away from the surety's statute of limitations defense, AHAC argued in an Oct. 27 reply brief. The matter is a "straight-forward statute of limitations case" since the U.S. brought the action seeking uncollected antidumping duties more than six years after the right of action began, and any attack on the defendant's affirmative defense of laches is merely a distraction, the brief said (United States v. American Home Assurance Co., CIT #20-00175).
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The Commerce Department illegally valued the factors of production (FOPs) of the intermediate product for a refrigerant, anhydrous hydrofluoric acid (AHF), rather than valuing AHF's reported FOPs, plaintiffs led by respondent Zhejiang Sanmei Chemical Ind. Co. argued in an Oct. 25 motion for judgment. Typically, Commerce only values the intermediate input directly if valuing the FOPs might lead to an inaccurate result. That was not the case here, since the record shows that there was no need to differentiate between Sanmei's usage of self-made AHF and purchased AHF since none of the antidumping duty review period's U.S. sales were made with purchased AHF, the brief said (Zhejiang Sanmei Chemical Ind. Co. v. United States, CIT #22-00103).
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade: