World Trade Organization members on Dec. 19 agreed to let the EU impose countermeasures on imports from the U.S. due to U.S. violations of WTO rules in its antidumping duty and countervailing duty proceedings on Spanish ripe olives, the WTO announced.
The following lawsuits were filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
The U.S. agreed to classify importer Jing Mei Automotive (USA)'s rear drive axle covers and front axle covers under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 8708.70.60, dutiable at 2.5%, according to stipulated judgments the government and Jing Mei filed in a trio of cases at the Court of International Trade (Jing Mei Automotive (USA) v. United States, CIT #'s 14-00281, 14-00060, 14-00003).
The Court of International Trade did not err in classifying The Comfy, an oversized pullover imported by Cozy Comfort, as a pullover of Harmonized Tariff Schedule 6110 and not a blanket of heading 6301, the U.S. argued in a Dec. 19 reply brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Cozy Comfort v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 25-1889).
CBP stuck with its finding that exporter Kingtom Aluminio uses forced labor in manufacturing aluminum extrusions following a decision from the Court of International Trade that the agency failed to adequately explain its initial forced labor finding. CBP found that "Kingtom submitted its employees to situations that align with multiple [International Labour Organization] (ILO) indicators of forced labor" (Kingtom Aluminio v. United States, CIT # 24-00264).
The U.S. declined to prosecute a criminal trade fraud case against global plastic resin distributor MGI International and its subsidiaries Global Plastics and Marco Polo International, DOJ announced on Dec. 18. The agency agreed to credit a $6.8 million payment made by MGI to settle a civil case against the company for knowingly failing to pay customs duties on plastic resin entries from China in its decision not to proceed with a criminal investigation for the same conduct.
Importer Wanxiang America agreed to pay over $53 million to settle claims that the company unlawfully avoided antidumping duties on its car part entries, DOJ announced. The settlement was filed at the Court of International Trade and resolves the government's customs penalty case against Wanxiang in which it was seeking $97 million from the company (see 2512180043).
A California customs broker was sentenced on Dec. 18 to 51 months in prison for defrauding importers, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced. Frank Seung Noah owned and operated customs brokerage Comis International and also was ordered to pay $7,579,141 in restitution.
The following lawsuits were filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
The Court of International Trade remanded the Commerce Department's expedited countervailing duty review on Canadian softwood lumber for the ninth time on Dec. 18, finding the agency abused its discretion in declining to reopen the record to let respondent Les Produits Forestiers D&G and its cross-owned affiliate Les Produits Forestiers Portbec add information to help distinguish sales affected by subsidies to unaffiliated input suppliers.