Customs duty

The U.S. Court of International Trade granted a Department of Justice motion requesting leave to file an updated “schedule of cases” related to the first-filed HMTX Industries-Jasco Products Section 301 complaint, according to Chief Judge Timothy Stanceu's Dec. 22 order in docket 1:20-cv-00177. The motion “concerns overall case management of an unusually large volume of cases, none of which have yet been assigned to an individual Judge,” DOJ said. Roughly 3,700 cases have inundated the court, all seeking to vacate the lists 3 and 4A tariff rulemakings on Chinese imports and refunding the duties. The plaintiffs that responded to DOJ’s Sept. 23 motion (see 2009240026) for case management procedures have “generally agreed” that the cases other than the first-filed HMTX-Jasco action “should be stayed while a test-case procedure is implemented,” DOJ said. A schedule of pending cases attached to the motion was updated Dec. 22 and now spans 194 pages, and includes actions filed through Dec. 21.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will extend exclusions on goods used to treat COVID-19 from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, it said in a notice posted on the agency's website. "In light of the rising spread and ongoing efforts to combat COVID-19, the U.S. Trade Representative has determined that maintaining or re-imposing additional duties on certain products subject to the action no longer is appropriate and that the application of additional duties to these products could impact U.S. preparedness to address COVID-19," it said.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will extend exclusions on goods used to treat COVID-19 from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, it said in a notice posted on the agency's website. “In light of the rising spread and ongoing efforts to combat COVID-19, the U.S. Trade Representative has determined that maintaining or re-imposing additional duties on certain products subject to the action no longer is appropriate and that the application of additional duties to these products could impact U.S. preparedness to address COVID-19,” it said.

Demand shocks, input shortages and some regulatory roadblocks are the primary reasons for shortages of N95 masks, medical-grade gloves and gowns, ventilators and other goods needed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Trade Commission wrote in a report released Dec. 22, after a request from the committees that oversee trade policy in Congress.

The Ottawa Group, which includes the European Union, Japan, Brazil, Korea, Mexico, Switzerland, Canada and others, is arguing that a coordinated global response is needed to COVID-19, including cooperating on vaccine distribution, and trade in other medical supplies, and says regulatory compatibility on these goods should be improved so that the world will be ready for the next pandemic.

The Treasury Department published its fall 2020 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda now mentions a proposal to end the de minimis exemption for goods subject to Section 301 tariffs. The proposal was previously disclosed by the Office of Management and Budget (see 2009040026), where it remains under review. Brenda Smith, CBP executive assistant international trade commissioner, recently cited some operational concerns with the idea (see 2011100034).

Four additional jewelry importers will pay more than $860,000 to settle a whistleblower lawsuit over allegations of misclassification and underpayment of duties, the Department of Justice said in a Dec. 10 news release. Roman & Sunstone, iStar Jewelry, Ansun and Starkes Gems, four related companies based in New Jersey, classified earrings based on the value of pairs or larger groups, instead of the value of single earrings, claiming a lower duty rate than they should have paid had they been correctly classifying the imports, DOJ said.

A California clothing importer and its owners were indicted over schemes to undervalue apparel and evade customs duties, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a Dec. 10 news release. The importer, C'est Toi Jeans (CTJ), and owner Si Oh Rhew, of La Canada Flintridge, and his son, Lance Rhew, of Los Angeles, a CTJ corporate officer who owns another company that did business with CTJ, were the subjects of a 35-count indictment from a federal grand jury, the Department of Justice said. The charges include “conspiracy; entry of goods falsely classified; entry of goods by means of false statements; passing false and fraudulent papers through customhouse.”

Golf clubs assembled in Mexico from titanium heads manufactured in Taiwan and carbon fiber shafts from China must be marked products of both, and the value of the shaft is subject to Section 301 tariffs, CBP said in a Dec. 2 ruling. The golf clubs do not undergo a substantial transformation in Mexico nor the required USMCA tariff shift, and both the shaft and head give the golf clubs their essential character, CBP said in ruling HQ H312495, posted to the agency’s ruling database on Dec. 10.

The COVID-19 pandemic's “unprecedented complications” are making it impossible for CBP to be served summonses and complaints by certified or registered mail from many of the thousands of plaintiffs in the Section 301 litigation at the U.S. Court of International Trade, the Department of Justice said Dec. 9 in a motion to adopt alternative procedures for service. Staff in CBP’s chief counsel’s office “have been working under maximum telework conditions,” and some mail “has been returned to the sender as undeliverable,” it said. To resolve the issue, DOJ’s international trade field office “agrees to accept service of these documents on behalf of CBP,” it said. The motion “concerns overall case management of an unusually large volume of cases,” it said. DOJ included a list of 3,659 complaints, covering 193 pages, filed through Dec. 8. All the complaints seek to get the lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariff rulemakings vacated and the duties refunded.