Three new lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade Nov. 6 on the legality of President Donald Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as his authority to impose tariffs, on the day after the Supreme Court appeared skeptical about the validity of such tariffs. One suit was filed by three importers, led by Del Monte Fresh Produce and represented by customs lawyer Myron Barlow; another was filed by importer Turn5, represented by Crowell & Moring; and a third was filed by importer Netuno USA by trade lawyer Vinicius Adam (Del Monte Fresh Produce v. United States, CIT # 25-00244) (Netuno USA v. Donald J. Trump, CIT # 25-00245) (Turn5 v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CIT # 25-00246).
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated on Nov. 3 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):
The Court of International Trade assigned on Nov. 4 another International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs case to a three-judge panel consisting of Judges Gary Katzmann, Timothy Reif and Jane Restani (PGN International Group v. Donald J. Trump, CIT # 25-00240).
The Court of International Trade dismissed Nov. 4 a case brought by Danfoss LLC, for lack of prosecution. Danfoss, a Danish exporter of refrigeration and air conditioning units, initially brought its case in 2023 (Danfoss LLC v. United States, CIT # 23-00214).
The U.S. filed a statement of material facts not in dispute Nov. 4 in a case regarding the classification of a substance used to accelerate chemical reactions involved in making plastic. It emphasized that the substance, Axion CA 1330, “is not a catalyst,” rather serving as “a component of a supported catalyst system” (Lanxess Corporation v. United States, CIT # 23-00073).
The Court of International Trade on Nov. 4 granted importer Camel Energy's motion to expedite its case against CBP's detention of two of its battery entries. Judge Claire Kelly, who was assigned to the case on Oct. 29, granted the motion to expedite and said that Camel Energy "may file a proposed briefing schedule" along with a "brief statement of reasons as to why this expedited timeframe is necessary" by Nov. 5 at 4 p.m. ET (Camel Energy v. United States, CIT # 25-00230).
Two Trump appointees, along with the three liberal justices, had sharp questions for the Trump administration's advocate as the Supreme Court held a nearly three-hour hearing on the constitutionality of tariffs imposed around the world under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Pay.gov will undergo maintenance on Nov. 8, and PACER will undergo maintenance on Nov. 9, the Court of International Trade announced. Documents requiring payment through Pay.gov can't be filed on CM/ECF during the hours of 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET, the court said. On Nov. 9, users may experience "intermittent issues when logging on to CM/ECF and when making payments through Pay.gov" from 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET, due to the maintenance of PACER.
The following lawsuit was filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
Importer Topcon Positioning Systems on Nov. 3 told the Court of International Trade that its "laser levels" are "surveying instruments," properly classified under duty-free Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 9015.30.4000, which provides for "levels" used for "surveying." In a motion for summary judgment, Topcon also argued that its accessories are, "in turn," classified under duty-free subheading 9015.90.0030, which covers accessories of surveying instruments (Topcon Positioning Systems v. United States, CIT # 14-00189).