The Court of International Trade in a Jan. 6 order dismissed a customs case from importer Tylt over the retroactive application of exclusions that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative granted for certain goods subject to Section 301 tariffs. The plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the action. Tylt's complaint said the language in the exclusion announcement doesn't prevent Section 301 refunds for entries that are not protestable since the protest deadline expired. It also said the USTR's withholding the refund of duties for entries that are not protestable is arbitrary and violates the Administrative Procedure Act (Tylt v. U.S., CIT # 21-00579).
The Court of International Trade in a Jan. 4 order dismissed a customs case from importer Spartan Tools. The company brought the case looking to recover Section 301 duties it paid on its machinery part imports entered under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheadings 8412.29.8015, 8479.90.9496, 8483.30.8090 and 8483.50.9040, for which the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative granted an exclusion. The case was tossed for lack of prosecution since it was placed in the customs case management calendar and not removed "at the expiration of the applicable period of time of removal," the trade court said (Spartan Tools v. United States, CIT #20-03903).
Importer Kyocera Document Solutions America will get refunds on Section 301 duties paid for its printer maintenance kits that were granted a tariff exclusion by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The importer filed a stipulated judgment at the Court of International Trade on an agreed set of facts, which say that the maintenance kits, liquidated under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 8443.99.2050 and assessed Section 301 tariffs under secondary subheading 9903.88.01, fit under the exclusion.
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A World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel found the U.S. violated global trade rules by requiring goods made in Hong Kong to be marked as being made in China. Submitting its ruling Dec. 21, the three-arbitrator panel found the U.S. measures inconsistent with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, saying the U.S. failed to show the moves were made in response to an "emergency in international relations." The U.S. argued the change in the origin requirement was needed to safeguard American national security.
Victor Ban, former senior associate at Covington & Burling, has joined the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as special counsel, the agency confirmed in an emailed statement. At USTR, Ban will coordinate the development of supply chain policy. Ban had practiced law at Covington & Burling LLP since 2015.
China officially requested dispute consultations with the U.S. at the World Trade Organization Dec. 15 over American export controls on certain semiconductors, the WTO announced. China, which announced the move earlier in the week (see 2212120061), said the restrictions violate Article XXII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT), Article XXII of the General Agreement on Trade in Services, Article 8 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures and Article 64.1 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative stuck by its decision not to reinstate a Section 301 China tariff exclusion for drinking water cooler products, the agency said in Dec. 14 remand results submitted to the Court of International Trade. USTR said that while the availability of these goods from places outside of China is limited, the record shows that sources outside of China have picked up since 2018 with third-country imports growing "significantly in the first six months after the exclusion expired." While these sources, along with domestic production, fail to meet domestic demand, the record does not show that the additional duties are "impacting or resulting in severe economic harm to U.S. companies or other interests" (DS Services of America v. United States, CIT #22-00157).
House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Kevin Brady, R-Texas, who is retiring at the end of this Congress, and outgoing New Democrats Chair Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., introduced a resolution that asks the U.S. trade representative to re-launch negotiations at the World Trade Organization to liberalize trade in environmental goods.