In oral argument Sept. 3 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit -- which the case's primary exporter attempted to avoid (see 2408020019 and 2408120039) -- judges clashed with the government over the Commerce Department's decision to assign unallocated costs to overhead, rather than another cost category (Risen Energy Co. v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 23-1550).
Harmonized Tariff Schedule
The Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) is a reference manual that provides duty rates for almost every item that exists. It is a system of classifying and taxing all goods imported into the United States. The HTS is based on the international Harmonized System, which is a global standard for naming and describing trade products, and consists of a hierarchical structure that assigns a specific code and rate to each type of merchandise for duty, quota, and statistical purposes. The HTS was made effective on January 1, 1989, replacing the former Tariff Schedules of the United States. It is maintained by the U.S. International Trade Commission, but the Customs and Border Protection of the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for interpreting and enforcing the HTS.
The Court of International Trade on Sept. 5 said a CBP headquarters ruling on see-through pop-up tent "pods" that differed in outcome from a previously decided protest didn't require public notice-and-comment because the protest wasn't a "prior interpretive ruling or decision." Judge Timothy Reif dismissed one of importer Under the Weather's counts in its customs classification case on the pods, finding that the prior protest approval wasn't the result of "considered deliberations," didn't have "prospective effect" and wasn't "interpretive."
Judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Sept. 4 heard oral argument in a tariff classification case on electrical conduit imported by Shamrock Building Materials. Judges Richard Taranto, Todd Hughes and Tiffany Cunningham asked whether the conduit had an insulating function and whether there is a de minimis amount of insulating material a conduit needs to include to qualify for classification under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8547 (Shamrock Building Materials v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1648).
The International Trade Commission and an exporter of aluminum extruders Aug. 29 each opposed a petitioner’s motion for judgment that claimed the ITC had altered usually reliable data to reach a negligibility finding regarding extrusions from the Dominican Republic. The alteration was both established by law and necessary, they said (U.S. Aluminum Extruders Coalition v. United States, CIT # 23-00270).
On appeal, the U.S. supported Court of International Trade Judge Jane Restani’s decision that imported weekly/monthly planners were properly classified as “diaries” under heading 4820 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (see 2404100052). The decision subjected the importer to Section 301 tariffs (Blue Sky The Color of Imagination v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 24-1710).
Digital security cameras mounted as doorbells fall under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading governing TV cameras and video camera recorders, according to three separate CBP rulings issued June 21 and publicly released last week.
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
An importer of airplane parts brought a complaint to the Court of International Trade on Aug. 31, saying that an aeronautical control box produced in Illinois and imported to Japan should have been classified as an American good, not a Japanese one (Aeronautical Systems, Inc. v. U.S., CIT # 20-00157).
The U.S. and a seller of a chemical product used in the making of plastic asked the Court of International Trade to grant a consent motion to reopen discovery until Nov. 4, saying all expert reports, if any, were to be filed by then (Lanxess Corporation v. U.S., CIT # 23-00073).
The Court of International Trade on Aug. 28 denied both the government's and importer HyAxiom's motions for judgment in a customs classification case on PC50 supermodules, which are a part of a stationary hydrogen fuel cell generator known as the PureCell Model 400. Judge Timothy Stanceu said a factual determination is needed on whether the PC50's "principal function" is gas generation.