The Court of International Trade “will remain open to business” for the time being, despite the ongoing partial federal government shutdown, it said in a notice on its website on Jan. 8. CIT “will be staffed to provide all normal judicial business functions until further notice from the court,” it said. “All filing deadlines will remain in effect and [the Case Management/Electronic Case Files system] CM/ECF will remain operational for filing of all documents.”
Federal Universal Service Fund
The FCC's Universal Service Fund (USF) was created by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to fund programs designed to provide universal telecommunications access to all U.S. citizens. All telecommunications providers are required to contribute a percentage of their end-user revenues to the Fund, which the FCC allocates for four core programs: 1. Connect America Fund, which subsidizes telecom providers for the increased costs of offering services to customers in rural and remote areas 2. Lifeline, which directly subsidizes low-income households to help pay for the cost of phone and internet service 3. Rural Health Care, which subsidizes health care providers to offer broadband telehealth services that can connect rural patients and providers with specialists located farther away 4. E-Rate, which subsidizes rural and low-income schools and libraries for internet and telecommunications costs The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) administers the USF on behalf of the FCC, but requires Congressional approval for its actions. Many states also operate their own universal service funds, which operate independently from the federal program.
Latest News on the Universal Service Fund
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Dec. 31 - Jan. 6:
An importer of garage door openers recently won a court order barring CBP from excluding its products for patent infringement despite a redesign. In a decision released to the public Jan. 2, the Court of International Trade found CBP probably ruled incorrectly when it said a Section 337 exclusion order still applied to One World Technologies’ redesigned cordless garage door openers, issuing a preliminary injunction that stops CBP from blocking any entries under the ruling.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Dec. 24-30:
Further litigation over the final drawback rules under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act is widely expected, with the most likely target being the provisions on drawback for excise taxes, according to multiple lawyers watching the issue closely. One lawyer mentioned ongoing discussions with tobacco firms to file a lawsuit over the excise tax issue, while the wine industry, which could see an end to more than $50 million in annual refunds, would be another likely litigant. The so-called "double drawback" for excise taxes is the most obvious piece to be challenged, but there are some other issues that could face legal scrutiny.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 24-28 in case they were missed.
Six entries of stainless steel plate in coils (SSPC) imported in 1999 from Belgium that were subject to antidumping and countervailing duty orders were deemed liquidated by operation of law, Court of International Trade Judge Kenton Musgrave said in a Dec. 21 ruling. The importer, Arbed Americas, LLC, sued CBP over the 2011 liquidation of the entries. Those entries were caught up in a separate lawsuit that resulted in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit suspending liquidation of all entries of SSPC from Belgium and remanding a denied preliminary injunction back to CIT.
Bonds covering antidumping duties were not retroactively declared invalid by a 2006 law that temporarily suspended the option to post bonds instead of cash deposits for goods subject to new shipper reviews, the Court of International Trade said in a Dec. 14 decision. Hartford Fire Insurance had argued it didn’t owe CBP uncollected duties on entries of fresh garlic from China because the Pension Protection Act, passed in August 2016, retroactively nullified existing bonds going back to April of that year. The trade court disagreed, finding the law’s retroactive application only barred importers from relying on new bonds instead of cash deposits for entries subject to new shipper reviews. Existing bonds issued before the law was enacted remained in effect, it said. “In sum, the PPA does not alter the status of bonds already lawfully filed with Customs, or the ability of Customs to collect against those bonds,” CIT said. The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 has since permanently ended the bond option in new shipper reviews (see 1606070008).
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Dec. 17-23:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Dec. 10-16: