One Chinese company and three companies based in New Jersey and New York settled charges with the U.S. related to a customs avoidance scheme, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced. The companies agreed to pay fines ranging from $5,000 to $500,000 to settle violations relating to the False Claims Act, "among other statutes."
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative this week announced the hiring of two new officials.
One Chinese company and three companies based in New Jersey and New York settled charges with the U.S. related to a customs avoidance scheme, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced. The companies agreed to pay fines ranging from $5,000 to $500,000 to settle violations relating to the False Claims Act, "among other statutes."
Marriott International seeks summary judgment against defendant Dynasty Marketing Group in its trademark infringement lawsuit to thwart robocallers from impersonating Marriott telemarketers, said its memorandum Friday (docket 1:21-cv-00610) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia in Alexandria. Capping a busy day for docket activity, another defendant, ResortCom International, filed dual motions for summary judgment against Marriott and to dismiss the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
CBP reminded importers that changes to tax benefits under the Craft Beverage Modernization Act take effect for entries on or after Jan. 1, including a requirement that the full internal revenue tax rate be paid at entry, with refund claims filed subsequently with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (see 2209220065), CBP said in a CSMS message. Even though the full tax must be paid, ACE will allow for payment of a lower rate, and “it is the responsibility of the importer/filer to ensure the proper IRT rate is declared and paid for imported merchandise,” CBP said. “Entries must be filed with the correct IRT as part of the importer’s obligation to exercise reasonable care and the broker’s responsibility to demonstrate responsible supervision and control over their Customs business,” the agency said.
The Automated Export System soon will incorporate new response code 5C2 for when a commodity line in AES is reported with U.S. Munitions List Category XXI, but a commodity jurisdiction number is not reported, CBP said in a recent CSMS message. The new response message, which will be a fatal error, will be available in certification for testing Jan. 3 and “available in Production at a later date,” CBP said. “A follow-up message will announce when the messages will be active in Certification.”
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CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Customs brokers must submit and maintain a current list of employees to CBP by Feb. 17 to comply with recent changes under the broker modernization final rule, CBP said in a CSMS message. Under the final rule, which took effect Dec. 19 (see 2210170071), “brokers must submit a list of names of persons currently employed and, after initial submission, update the list if any of the required information changes,” CBP said.
EPA’s proposed expansion of liability for compliance with hydrofluorocarbon import requirements to all parties that could perform the role of importer of record “blurs the roles” of parties to a transaction and adds confusion as to who is responsible with meeting EPA requirements, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in comments posted by EPA on Dec. 19.