The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on March 13 again upheld the validity of a law allowing countervailing duties on non-market economy countries like China and Vietnam (here). Although the 2012 law had effectively imposed CV duties retroactively on imports from 2007 through 2012, Congress did not violate the Due Process clause of the constitution because it acted with the rational purpose of protecting U.S. manufacturers from unfair trade practices, said the court.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of March 2-8:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 23 - March 1:
The Department of Justice is considering seeking criminal charges against Lumber Liquidators for Lacey Act violations, said Lumber Liquidators in its annual “10-K” report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 25 (here). ICE and the Fish and Wildlife Service executed a search warrant at the company’s corporate offices in late 2013 seeking information on the company’s imported wood flooring (see 13092716).
The Maine U.S. District Court on Feb. 23 invalidated a Maine state law allowing importation of prescription drugs from certain countries for personal use. The Maine law, which took effect in October 2013, allows mail-order pharmacies in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand to export prescription drugs to Maine residents (see 13101011). The District Court said the law conflicts with the federal responsibility of regulating foreign commerce.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 16-22:
Customs protests must strictly adhere to statutory and regulatory requirements in order to be valid, said the Court of International Trade in a Feb. 23 ruling (here). Even if it’s obvious that a document is intended as a protest, the protest is not valid unless it includes all required information in the prescribed format, said the court as it dismissed a challenge to the classification of an imported Rolls Royce because the underlying protest wasn’t valid.
Another class action case against an olive oil importer is set to move through California federal court, after a Northern California U.S. District Court Judge on Feb. 3 denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against Salov North America Corp., the importer of “Filippo Berio” brand olive oil.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 9-15:
Three importers have agreed to pay a total of over $3 million to settle charges that they transshipped Chinese aluminum extrusions through Malaysia in order to avoid paying antidumping and countervailing duties, said the Justice Department on Feb. 12. California-based C.R. Laurence, Florida-based Southeastern Aluminum, and Texas-based Waterfall Group allegedly declared the country of origin of the aluminum extrusions to be Malaysia, even though the goods were actually manufactured in China and only transshipped through Malaysia, said DOJ. The settlement comes as the result of a False Claims Act whistleblower lawsuit in Middle Florida U.S. District Court brought by James Valenti, owner and CEO of sourcing consultant World Trade Group, and joined by the U.S. government. Valenti is set to receive $555,100 for his role in the case.