The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated April 28-29 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):
In seeking transfer of an International Emergency Economic Powers Act case to the Court of International Trade, the U.S. said May 8 that such a transfer is necessary even when “there is doubt” about CIT’s jurisdiction. If a case’s merits must be decided first, this would “effectively” destroy CIT’s exclusive jurisdiction over tariff matters, it said (State of California v. Donald J. Trump, N.D. Cal. # 3:25-03372).
Food storage importer Huhtamaki brought a May 8 complaint to the Court of International Trade saying CBP wrongly applied Section 301 duties to its clamshell container imports. Prior to entry, the importer said, it had undertaken “a months-long wild-goose chase” with CBP that ended with verbal confirmation the imports were excluded (Huhtamaki, Inc. v. United States, CIT # 24-00050).
The Institute for Policy Integrity, an economic law think tank housed at the NYU School of Law, filed an amicus brief in the lead case at the Court of International Trade on tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to discuss the "major questions" doctrine. The institute said the plaintiffs filing the case, represented by conservative legal advocacy group Liberty Justice Center, "do not fully state the doctrine or properly explain why it is triggered here" (V.O.S. Selections v. Trump, CIT # 25-00066).
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida on May 8 permitted the U.S. to file an additional reply brief in support of its motion to transfer a case challenging certain tariff action taken under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to the Court of International Trade. Judge Kent Wetherell gave the government until May 19 to file its reply addressing the plaintiffs' "merits arguments" (Emily Ley Paper v. Donald J. Trump, N.D. Fla. # 3:25-00464).
Pushing back against a motion to transfer an International Emergency Economic Powers Act challenge to the Court of International Trade, educational materials importers led by Learning Resources said May 7 that the case’s jurisdictional question overlaps with its substantive one -- whether IEEPA actually permits the president to levy tariffs (Learning Resources, Inc. v. Donald J. Trump, D. D.C. # 25-01248).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on May 9 upheld the Court of International Trade's classification of 14 mixtures of frozen fruits and vegetables under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 0811.90.80, the residual category for "other" frozen fruit.
Joyce Adetutu, a former partner at Baker Botts, has joined Vinson & Elkins as a partner in the export controls and economic sanctions practice, the firm announced. Adetutu's practice centers on export controls, trade, sanctions and tariff issues, including reviews conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the firm said.
The European Commission opened a public consultation regarding a list of U.S. imports that could become subject to tariffs in response to the flurry of U.S. trade action, should talks with the White House fall through, the commission announced. The list covers over $107 billion worth of U.S. imports, including a "broad range of industrial and agricultural products," it said.