Fit for Life, a company that partners with brands such as Gaiam, Reebok, New Balance and Adidas, said at the Court of International Trade that CBP should have classified its imported balance ball chairs as seats of rubber or plastic, a duty-free provision under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 9401, rather than as “other articles and equipment for general physical exercises” under heading 9506, which carries a 4.6% duty (Fit for Life LLC v. U.S., CIT # 20-00004).
The U.S. and antidumping petitioner Wind Tower Trade Coalition failed to show that the Commerce Department followed its standard "cost-smoothing" practice when it rejected respondent Marmen Energy's "product-specific plate costs as unreasonable," Marmen said in a Jan. 30 reply brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Marmen v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1877).
The Senate on Feb. 1 voted 53-42 to confirm Lisa Wang to serve as a judge on the Court of International Trade.
Chinese printer cartridge exporter Ninetsar Corp. filed its motion for judgment at the Court of International Trade on Jan. 22 against its placement on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List. Made public Jan. 31, the brief emphasizes arguments already made in support of its motion for a preliminary injunction (see 2312180057) (Ninestar Corp. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00182).
Crowell & Moring moved its New York office to Two Manhattan West at 375 9th Ave., including the firm's international trade practice, the firm announced. The firm also noted the change in a notice to the Court of International Trade.
The following trade-related lawsuit was recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
Importer Nutricia North America will appeal a December Court of International Trade decision finding that the company's baby formula and vitamins should be classified as food and not as pharmaceutical products (see 2312050028). Nutricia will argue at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that its goods, which are meant as dietary supplements for people with disabilities or ailments, fit under duty-free heading 3004 for "mixed or unmixed products for therapeutic or prophylactic use" packaged for retail sale. CBP put the entries under heading 2106, dutiable at 6.4%, as "food preparations not elsewhere specified or included" (Nutricia North America v. United States, CIT # 16-00008).
Three importers of trailer wheels filed complaints in the Court of International Trade on Jan. 30 contesting the Commerce Department’s determination that their wheels were subject to antidumping and countervailing duties and the importers had attempted to evade them (Trailstar LLC v. U.S., CIT # 24-00021; Lionshead Specialty Tire and Wheel LLC v. U.S., CIT # 24-00020; Dexter Distribution Group LLC v. U.S., CIT # 24-00019).
Commerce incorrectly determined that discs, the inner structures of wheels, share the essential characteristics of wheels and are substantially the same products, an exporter said to the Court of International Trade in a Jan. 30 motion for judgment (Asia Wheel Co. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00143).
Importer Scottsdale Tobacco launched a case at the Court of International Trade to contest CBP's denial of its drawback claim on its Canadian-origin paper-wrapped cigarettes. Filing a complaint on Jan. 30, the importer said its drawback claim "met the requirements" for a substitution unused merchandise drawback of the federal excise taxes it paid, since it exported the cigarettes from Florida less than five years after the relevant imports (Scottsdale Tobacco v. United States, CIT # 24-00022).