Applications are due Nov. 22 for inclusion on a roster of potential panelists for USMCA dispute settlement cases involving antidumping duty proceedings and amendments to AD/CVD laws. USTR reviews its roster of 25 panelists annually, and this round will cover April 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023. Canada and Mexico also keep rosters of 25. Applicants should be of “good character and of high standing and repute, and are to be chosen strictly on the basis of their objectivity, reliability, sound judgment, and general familiarity with international trade law,” USTR said. Roster members may not be affiliated with any of the three USMCA governments, except for judges, who will be appointed to the roster “to the fullest extent practicable.”
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Electric scooters, known has hoverboards, were assessed duties under the wrong Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading upon entry into the U.S., importer 3BTech said in an Oct. 15 complaint at the Court of International Trade. Kicking off litigation in its customs battle, 3BTech argued that even if CBP's HTS subheading of choice is correct, the products were granted Section 301 China tariff exclusions (3BTech, Inc. v. United States, CIT #20-00159).
Ronald Baumgarten, former deputy assistant U.S. trade representative in the Office of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, has rejoined BakerHostetler as of counsel on the International Trade and National Security team, the firm announced. Baumgarten left BakerHostetler in 2007 to join the USTR as assistant general counsel. He later served as senior director in the Office of Agricultural Affairs before becoming deputy assistant USTR.
The Court of International Trade has jurisdiction to hear a case over CBP's failure to issue full Section 301 refunds, importer FD Sales Company argued in an Oct. 8 reply brief. Although CBP "approved" the importer's protest covering 60 entries seeking the refunds, FD Sales argued that the protest was effectively denied when CBP failed to fully grant the refunds, thus giving CIT jurisdiction under Section 1581(a) (FD Sales Company, LLC v. United States, CIT #21-00224).
Trade Law Daily is providing readers with some recent top stories. All articles can be found by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The government stands by its arguments that the lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods are “presidential actions” that are “unreviewable” by the court, the Department of Justice said in a late filing on Oct. 1 at the Court of International Trade (In Re Section 301 Cases, CIT #21-00052).
Requiring a CBP protest to obtain a refund under exclusions from Section 301 tariffs usurps the authority of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and unlawfully hands it over to CBP, importers ARP Materials and Harrison Steel Castings argued at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (ARP Materials, Inc., et al. v. United States, Fed. Cir. #21-2176).
Engine manufacturing giant Cummins Inc. launched a challenge to CBP's denial of its protest claiming its turbocharger housings qualify for a specific Section 301 tariff exclusion, in a Sept. 15 complaint at the Court of International Trade. The challenge seeks to prove that Cummins' imported "housings" or "covers" that are assembled into turbochargers quality for the compressor housings exclusion laid out by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (Cummins Inc., et al. v. United States, CIT #21-00517).
Russell Semmel, former Arent Fox attorney, joined international law firm Bryan Cave's New York office as counsel in the International Trade Practice, the firm announced Aug. 30. With more than a decade of experience, Semmel will continue to advise importers on issues of “tariff classification and valuation; free trade agreements and preference programs; country of origin and marking; drawback; seizures and forfeitures; civil customs penalties; antidumping and countervailing duties; and other laws and regulations enforced by" CBP, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission, Bryan Cave said.