A dispute over country of origin marking on hand tools imported from Taiwan heads to a trial by jury, after a New Jersey U.S. District Court judge recently declined to decide the case until more factual details are available. Newborn Bros., an importer of Taiwanese hand tools, alleges Albion Engineering engaged in unfair competition under the Lanham Act and New Jersey law by falsely advertising its products were made in the U.S. despite importing them from Taiwan. The judge held Newborn did not present sufficiently detailed proof of false marking and advertising, and left it for a jury to decide whether Albion’s allegedly false advertising cost Newborn sales.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 9-15:
Perfectus Aluminum is suing the federal government and customs officials over what the company sees as an improper seizure and detention of aluminum goods that were seized in September, according to a court document filed by Perfectus in late December. Perfectus filed the lawsuit in a federal district court in California in pursuit of "equitable relief for the return of property unlawfully detained by CBP," it said in a filing. The seizures and court case were first reported by The Wall Street Journal (here), which has published a series of stories about possibly illegal efforts to avoid antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum products from China.
Volkswagen reached an agreement with CBP, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice to settle charges that it illegally imported vehicles with diesel engines that did not conform to U.S. emissions requirements, said the DOJ in a news release (here). The company agreed to pay $4.3 billion in criminal and civil fines. It will also plead "guilty to three felonies: conspiracy to defraud the United States, to commit wire fraud, and to violate the Clean Air Act; obstruction of justice; and importation of goods by false statements," said the DOJ. Volkswagen will pay $1.45 billion to resolve the EPA and CBP civil claims, said the DOJ in a more detailed release (here). “Volkswagen’s attempts to dodge emissions standards and import falsely certified vehicles into the country represent an egregious violation of our nation’s environmental, consumer protection and financial laws,” said Attorney General Loretta Lynch. The company already agreed to pay up to $14.7 billion to mitigate pollution and buy back the affected vehicles, which were equipped with “defeat devices” that limited emissions only during emissions testing (see 1606280047). The defeat devices were not listed on certificates of conformity Volkswagen filed with the EPA, and were illegal for importation (see 1601050032). "At the time of importation, VW falsely represented to CBP that each of the nearly 590,000 imported vehicles complied with all applicable environmental laws, knowing those representations to be untrue," said the DOJ. "CBP’s relationship with the importing community is one based on trust, and this resolution demonstrates that CBP will not tolerate abrogation of importer responsibilities and schemes to defraud the revenue of the United States."
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Jan. 9 affirmed (here) a lower court ruling that bauxite proppants used for hydraulic fracking are classifiable as ores, not ceramic wares or articles. The pellets can’t be classified as the latter because they do not have a definite shape, varying widely in size. They can be classified as ores because, even though they are intended for non-metallurgical purposes, they still include minerals that are precursors to aluminum and have not undergone any processes that aren’t used in the metallurgical industry, CAFC said.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 2-8:
The Court of International Trade is making minor changes to its schedule of fees that will take effect on Feb. 1, it said (here). Among other changes, the fee for an original admission for an attorney to practice before the court is rising from $76 to $81 (here), which requires conforming changes to CIT Rule 74 (here) and CIT’s application for admission (here). The court is also amending its list of judges (here) to reflect the death of Senior Judge Donald Pogue in October (see 1610260061).
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Dec. 25 - Jan. 1:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Dec. 19-25:
The government is not limited to facts CBP includes in penalty notices when it seeks penalties from importers in court, the Court of International Trade said in a decision issued Dec. 22 (here). Rather, it can rely on facts and evidence gathered during the court case itself, CIT said. However, the court declined to rule against an importer accused of duty evasion based on those facts and evidence in a Section 1592 penalty case, finding neither side had established enough of a case either way.