The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated March 12 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 a long-delayed motion for summary judgment in a case that began in 2018, a Swiss watch importer argued that CBP had relied on the wrong definitions of "watch crystal” and “watch case” when it misclassified its entries at a higher duty rate (Ildico Inc. v. U.S., CIT #s 18-00136, -00076).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on March 12 affirmed a federal D.C. court's dismissal of Venezuelan national Samark Jose Lopez Bello's suit against his designation as a narcotics trafficker under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Samark Jose Lopez Bello v. Andrea M. Gacki, D.C. Cir. # 21-01727).
Trade Law Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week, in case you missed them. All articles can be found by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The German Federal Prosecutor's Office filed charges last month against a German national and a Russian national for illicitly exporting drone parts to Russia, the office announced March 5, according to an unofficial translation.
U.S. Army solider and intelligence analyst Korbein Schultz was arrested March 7 on charges of exporting defense-related technical data without a license and conspiracy to export defense articles, DOJ announced. A federal grand jury also indicted him on a charge of conspiracy to obtain national defense information and bribery of a public official.
Several antidumping duty petitioners said in a March 7 complaint they will be contesting the Commerce Department’s refusal to combine a mandatory respondent with an affiliate for a 2021-2022 administrative review of an AD order on carbon and steel alloy from Italy. The department had said applications submitted by the petitioners included untimely information by citing prior agency memos not raised earlier in the proceeding (ArcelorMittal Tubular Products v. U.S., CIT # 24-00039).
The Court of International Trade in an opinion made public March 8 sent back the Commerce Department's model matching methodology in the antidumping duty investigation on superabsorbent polymers (SAP) from South Korea. Judge Thomas Aquilino said that the agency didn't justify the methodology with sufficient evidence and that it used unverified data from exporter LG Chem while also failing to address evidence from the AD petitioner that the methodology allowed for LG Chem to manipulate its AD margin.
The European General Court in a pair of decisions on March 6 rejected challenges to the EU's restrictions on wood and iron and steel products from Belarus. The court, in virtually identical opinions, rejected a trio of claims from Belarusian wood company AAT Mostovdrev and iron and steel company AAT Byelorussian Steel Works challenging the European Council's reasons for imposing the restrictions and infringement of the right to "effective judicial protection," alleged failure to observe the "principle of equal treatment," and imposition of measures disproportionately affecting the wood and iron and steel industries.
A federal grand jury indicted Chinese national Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, for allegedly stealing trade secrets on artificial intelligence technology from Google, DOJ announced March 6. Ding, who was residing in California, purportedly transferred the trade secrets from "Google's network to his personal account while secretly affiliating himself with" Chinese companies in the AI industry.