Jacob Kopnick

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 following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:

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."

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Sept. 4 proposed amendments on its rules of practice, which, if adopted, would take effect Dec. 1. Comments on the rule changes are due on or before Oct. 4, the court said.

The Court of International Trade on Sept. 3 dismissed a customs case from importer Dover Street Market NY for lack of prosecution. The court said that because the case wasn't removed from the customs case management calendar at the "expiration of the applicable period of time of removal," the case is dismissed for failure to prosecute. The importer brought the suit in August 2021 to challenge CBP's denial of its duty drawback claims (Dover Street Market NY LLC v. U.S., CIT # 21-00420).

Parties in an antidumping duty case at the Court of International Trade continued their dispute on whether the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo should eliminate any deference shown to the Commerce Department's definition of the term "partners" in 19 U.S.C. Section 1677(33) (Ventura Coastal v. U.S., CIT # 23-00009).

The Court of International Trade on Sept. 4 dismissed a case from importer InterGlobal Forest challenging CBP's premature liquidation of hardwood plywood entries subject to an Enforce and Protect Act investigation after the company failed to state a reason to continue the case. In a previous order, Judge Mark Barnett noted that after litigation led to a negative evasion finding, CBP reliquidated InterGlobal's entries and canceled the bills for the payment of duties (InterGlobal Forest v. United States, CIT # 20-00155).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit during oral argument on Sept. 3 strongly questioned the U.S. in a customs case on whether cookware imports from Meyer Corp. qualify for first sale treatment. Judges Sharon Prost, Todd Hughes and Tiffany Cunningham questioned the government's defense of the Court of International Trade's decision to deny Meyer first sale valuation seemingly based on an adverse inference drawn against the company for its failure to submit its parent company's financial information (Meyer Corp. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1570).

The U.S. on Sept. 3 unsealed charges of terrorism, murder conspiracy and sanctions evasion against six Hamas leaders for their role in planning the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks against Israel, DOJ announced. The six people -- Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar, Mohammad al-Masri, Marwan Issa, Khaled Meshaal and Ali Baraka -- and their co-conspirators allegedly "control all aspects of the terrorist organization, including its political and military branches," DOJ said.

Gholam Reza Goodarzi, a dual U.S. and Iranian citizen living in Porter, Texas, made his initial appearance in a Texas federal court on Sept. 3 after his arrest for allegedly smuggling parts used in the production of unmanned aerial vehicles to Iran, DOJ announced.