A former jewelry importer will pay more than $400,000 to settle a False Claims Act whistleblower lawsuit that alleges it intentionally misclassified imported earrings to avoid paying higher customs duties, the Justice Department said in a Dec. 8 news release. A TSI Accessories Group subsidiary allegedly classified the earrings based on the value of pairs or larger groups, when they should have been classified based on the value of each single earring, said the whistleblower complaint, subsequently joined by the Justice Department.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Sept. 28-Oct. 2 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
A multinational engineering company will pay more than $22.2 million to resolve a False Claims Act whistleblower lawsuit related to the evasion of customs and antidumping and countervailing duties. Germany-based Linde GmbH and its U.S. affiliate, Linde Engineering North America, allegedly misrepresented the nature, classification, and valuation of imported merchandise, as well as the applicability of free trade agreements, so as not to pay tariffs, the Department of Justice said in a Sept. 25 news release.
The president and part-owner of a jewelry importer will pay $415,000 to settle a False Claims Act lawsuit that alleged his company undervalued entries in an effort to avoid paying duties, the Department of Justice said in an Aug. 3 news release. Anshul Gandhi, resident of New Jersey, admitted as part of the settlement that he knew of the customs fraud, avoiding a more than $7 million judgment entered in New York Southern District federal court that same day.
The Department of Justice reached an $8 million settlement agreement with CWD, which does business as Centric Parts, over questionable classifications of imported brake pads, DOJ said in news releases. The settlement resolves separate whistleblower complaints filed in Michigan and California. Centric is alleged to have misclassified mounted brake pads as unmounted brake pads upon import, DOJ said. Mounted brake pads have a 2.5% duty rate, while unmounted pads are duty-free.
A furniture importer and its executives will pay more than $5.2 million to settle a False Claims Act lawsuit on their alleged evasion of antidumping duties on wooden bedroom furniture by way of misclassification as metal furniture, the Justice Department said in an April 14 press release. Blue Furniture Solutions and its successor, XMillenium, will pay $4,679,987 of that total, while former CEO Yingqing Zeng will pay $460,000 and former CFO Alex Cheng $90,000 to resolve their personal liability, DOJ said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Jan. 21-24 in case they were missed.
The Department of Homeland Security will take several new steps toward preventing the importation of counterfeit goods, executive branch officials said during a Jan.24 press conference to discuss a report on the subject. Peter Navarro, a close White House adviser on trade, said of the report: “What they produced is both historic and transcendent. The guts of this are the 10 sets of government actions that will be implemented immediately.” But, he said, 10 best practices for private industry -- which are voluntary -- are as important, if not more important. He said that currently, the burden is on the intellectual property rights holders to police the internet, and the government to catch counterfeits in shipments.
The Justice Department is adding new lawyers to its international trade office, indicating that there could be an uptick in Section 592 penalty cases against importers, according to Crowell & Moring’s 2020 Litigation Forecast. The hiring comes amid increased scrutiny on valuation and country of origin issues as Section 301 tariffs incentivize importers to find ways to reduce duty liability. “This likely means that CBP has already determined that a significant amount of penalty cases are not going to be resolved administratively and will proceed to litigation,” said David Stepp, a customs lawyer with the law firm.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Jan. 6-10 in case they were missed.