Lawfirm

One of the problems of trying to chronicle all modern American jurisprudence on customs law is that I need to read it all. Sometimes that hurts more than other times. In this case, G.G. Marck & Associates, Inc. v. United States , the blame for my current headache does not lie in the drafting. It may be that I spent the afternoon in tasting rooms at breweries. Or, it may be the substance of the case. I rarely call out individual judges. In this case, I want to be clear that Judge Richard Eaton wrote a cogent opinion. The problem here is that there are 91 cups and mugs involved and two complicated issues. This decision is a yeoman's task of wading through facts and applying the law. The imported merchandise is 91 styles of cups and mugs. At liquidation, Customs classified the merchandise either as "mugs" in 6912.00.44 (10%) or as "other" in 6912.00.48 (9.8%). The difference is that "cups," as opposed to "mugs," fall in the "other"...

The scope of antidumping and countervailing duty orders is one of those issues that sits right at the intersection of trade law and customs law. The Department of Commerce determines the scope of an order and can issue rulings clarifying whether particular products are within the scope of the order. Customs and Border Protection makes the day-to-day decisions whether to apply an order to imports as they arrive and the entries are liquidated. Traditionally, Customs' role in this process has been described as "ministerial," meaning it simply does what Commerce says to do. On the other hand, Commerce has not envisioned every possible product and product description. What Customs does is, in reality, more than ministerial. It requires the analysis of the scope of the order and the nature of the merchandise. Customs applies facts to law--that is not really ministerial. That is what LDA Incorporado v. United States is about. LDA imports rigid electrical conduit from China. Af...

I've been busy. That's a good thing. The U.S. Court of International Trade has been busy as well. That is also a good thing. I am taking this week off. That is a good thing. The Venn diagram of this situation looks like this:

Yes,  I am a cheater of fabulous quality splurges and I like to re-define the term as a "treat meal".  I do not believe that having a fresh baked brownie now and then is cheating on my fitness program.  I eat healthy the majority of the time and follow a 90/10 rule where I consume a wide variety of good carbs , lean proteins and healthy fats 90% of the time and allowing 10% for indulgences like a glass of wine or chocolate . I will even apply the 80/20 rule where I eat healthy foods 80% of the time and allowing 20% to splurge on foods not on my typical menu.  This comes in handy when on vacation or during the holidays.  It is realistic to want things that are considered "bad" and I am not immune to those cravings.  I will not turn down a piece of my Mom's home baked pie or biscuits with butter and honey ... are you kidding me? Pizza is a Coveted Cheat Meal When I do partake in something nutritionally naughty it has to be quality.  I will not be div...

What is the Court of International Trade supposed to do when the defendant in a penalty case refuses to show up? The answer is issue a default judgment against that defendant based on the well pleaded facts of the complaint. Unless challenged, those facts are taken as admitted and true. That is the background to United States v. NYCC 1959 Inc . The imported goods appear to be petroleum wax candles from China, which are subject to antidumping duties. At the time of entry, they were described as merchandise outside the scope of the order. Customs determined that the false statement was a violation of 19 USC 1592, and imposed a penalty based on gross negligence. A couple interesting points about this otherwise unremarkable case: The judge found that the uncontested allegations that (1) the importer provided a false description of the merchandise and (2) the importer had prior notice from Customs and Border Protection of the false nature of the statement sufficient to establish liability f...

You may recall that in United States v. American Home Assurance Company , the U.S. Court of International Trade held that a surety could not be held liable for statutory prejudgment interest owed by the importer because the statute reaches only "ordinary" duties and not antidumping duties. However, in the same case, the CIT held that the government is entitled to prejudgment interest under equity. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has now reversed the CIT on the first point and vacated the decision with respect to the second point. The facts you need to know are few. American Home was the surety for an importer of crawfish tail meat from China, which is subject to an antidumping duty order. At the time of entry, the deposit rate applicable to the specific exporter was zero, which is convenient. But, following a review, liquidation occurred with a 223.01% assessment rate, which was inconvenient. The importer defaulted and Customs and Border Protection sought paymen...

The good news is that I have a couple interesting customs law cases to post this week. the Court of International Trade has been busy with customs matters, and that is good for me. The bad news is that I missed posting a ROTW last week. I will try to double up this week. This ruling of the week involves a "balance ball chair." Hat tip to an astute reader who pointed it out to me. In N009306 , Customs classified a "chair" in 9401.80.40 as an other seat, of rubber or plastic. The chair was entitled to duty-free entry to the United States. Customs considered a similar chair in N144757 . In that ruling, Customs and Border Protection classified the chair in 9506.91.00 as an article or equipment for general physical exercise with a duty rate of 4.6%. Clearly, this is not your average chair, which is usually the opposite of exercise equipment. Rather, these are balance ball chairs. In the Customs Bulletin of June 10, 2015 , CBP is proposing to revoke N009306 and classify t...

In an interesting move, Pepsi has demoted its mango drink brand Slice into a sub-brand of Tropicana. Slice which was launched in 1993 , came in to limelight with some good advertisement campaigns. The notable is the Aamsutra campaign featuring the brand ambassador Katrina Kaif. Tropicana was launched in 2004 as a healthy juice brand.  What Pepsi has done with Slice is to migrate the brand to Tropicana by launching Tropicana Slice . The first launch being the variant Tropicana Slice Alphonso. The new product is being launched with the TVC featuring Katrina Kaif and Aditya Roy Kapur. Watch the ad here : Tropicana Slice Alphonso While Katrina Kaif stays to provide continuity to the Slice brand equity, the Aamsutra has been taken off. The focus of the variant still remains the " Taste + Indulgence " proposition.  In many aspects, Slice as a brand is dead because the individuality is lost. It now has to follow the Tropicana's positioning. And it will remain a second fiddle to ...

Getting fit and sporting a hot body is not just for the twenty-somethings.  It is never too late, things are never too bad, never too far gone, and we are definitely never too old to become our best healthy self.  Our minds can play evil tricks on us and  make us believe our goals are unattainable.  That simply is not the truth and the first step that needs to happen is to change the thoughts about our life and body and begin the process of kicking out the mental clutter. Once we begin each day with a positive focus and have faith in what we want to accomplish, we are ready to make the goals come true.  It will be a daily choice to not give in to old patterns, old doubts and fears, and self sabotage.  This will be a time of inner strength development and facing all the crap that held you down for so long.  It will be an emptying of the old self into the trash and an awakening of the new stronger you ready to make things happen. Each day is a new opport...

If you were in customs compliance during the Clinton-years, you might remember Customs and Border Protection taking the public position that it was in the business of facilitating legitimate trade and that it would be a "kinder and gentler" agency. U.S. government people actually said that, or possibly I dreamed it. To me, it is real. That was before 9/11/2001, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and the shift toward border security as an existential issue of national security. By which I do not mean to denigrate that position at all. CBP's security job is important. Today CBP announced a possibly small program that is 100% in line with the kinder, gentler agency of yore and helps to facilitate U.S. exports. That's good for the economy. The program is the opportunity for exporters to request assistance on tariff classifications and customs valuation in other customs territories. Here is the pre-publication notice . It should show up in the Federal Reg...

I covered the Switchblade Act already this year , but it is back for a second look. This time in HQ 263979 (May 29, 2015) . This is an instance where the importer got a surprise, and it is not the good kind. United Cutlery asked Customs and Border Protection for the classification of a style of "folding" knife it intended to import. The knife consisted of a black metal grip and a double-edged blade that tapers to a point. The blade retracts into the grip and is released via a button that slides in a linear track along one side of the grip. SO, the knife does not "fold" at all. Pushing the button forward deploys the blade. The blade is under pressure from an internal spring and there are two detents in the track. The button drops into the detents with the blade extended either 1/16th or 5/16th of an inch. A minimal amount of force applied to the button will bypass both detents causing the blade to spring forward fully and lock in place. The functioning of this syste...

Brand : LuvIt Company : Global Consumer Products Brand Analysis Count : # 558 LuvIt is new brand from Global Consumer Products - a startup in the FMCG space. Global Consumer Products was started by A Mahendran who was the Managing Director of Godrej Consumer Products. The fact that an entrepreneur is trying to take on the giants like Mondolez and Nestle makes LuvIt an interesting brand. According to Economic Times, the Indian chocolate market is worth around Rs 6800 crore. The market is lead by Mondolez with a share of over 70% and distantly followed by Nestle with 18% and Ferrero with 8 % market share.  What makes LuvIt a brand to lookout for is the sheer ambition to fight the giants. The brand has huge ambition and it is seen by the way it was launched. It is reported in the news that Global Consumer Products has the backing of  Mitsui Global and Goldman Sacs  . LuvIt  has launched 9 variants with prices ranging from Rs 4 to Rs 45. The brand is essentially targetin...

Starting to adopt a healthy lifestyle and achieve personal fitness goals can feel exciting and even easy in the beginning.  We plug into our fitness pals, fit bits, get motivated eating healthy foods, excited about the new workouts and with smiles on our faces dive head first into what is absolutely fitness euphoria.   It feels good to eat healthy , exercise and talk about it with our family and friends. Self motivation is at it's peak running on a full tank of gas and determination full throttle.  We are on top of the world and nothing will stop us from reaching our goals, right? The struggle is usually not in the starting but in the maintaining.  We all need to start the process of getting healthy and we also need to continue creating healthy habits that eventually morph into a lifestyle.  Week three of the start may not feel as good anymore or as exciting but going out with friends downing a few drinks and sopping up some bread sounds more appealing.  ...

As previously discussed , the tariff classification of plastic cases for mobile phones, tablets, and similar electronic devices has been subject to much dispute. Customs and Border Protection has long held that they are usually, but not always, classified in Heading 4202 as if they are trunks, attaché cases, or musical instrument cases. I previously explained, in a fair amount of detail, why I think this is wrong. Turns out, barring interventions from the Court of Appeals, that I was right. Being right is a circumstance that always makes me happy. In a thorough and thoroughly well reasoned decision , the Court of International Trade has decided that cases for iPhones and similar products imported by Otter Products ("Otterbox") are not classified in Heading 4202. Rather, they are articles of plastic in Heading 3926. Customs had classified the goods in 4202 on the basis of Note 2(m) to Chapter 39, which excludes from Chapter 39 "containers" of Heading 4202. The primar...

You may recall, I previously posted about my concerns for the proper means of entering the shambling undead . It appears U.S. Customs and Border Protection has already contemplated the tariff treatment of drinkable zombies mixes. In NY N008597 (Apr. 13, 2007), the product was, among other things, a coffin-shaped cardboard box containing a bottle of "Citrus Zombie." The drink was about 70% water and 30% sugar with small amounts of flavoring a citric acid. The bottle included instructions to mix with equal parts of tequila, which is odd since a zombie cocktail is traditionally made with rum. According to CBP, this product is a food preparation not elsewhere specified or included, classifiable in 2106.90.9972. Helpfully, CBP pointed out that the item was not properly marked with its country of origin and that the food preparation is subject to FDA regulation. All of which is a segue into this cartoon from yesterday's paper . For copyright reasons, I'm just giving the li...

What I mean by supplements are those products that promise to create a fit and healthy body by popping or drinking whatever is in the bottle.  I guess that is where I do not believe in magic either.  I am a hard nut to crack when it comes to endorsing or promoting "enhancement" type supplements or drinks.  Those that promise to burn fat faster, create bulging muscles, and guarantee the ability to leap over buildings in a single bound.  In addition, they can come with harmful side effects I personally am not willing to chance. The next time you pick up a bottle of magic, take a close look at the label that will typically read "results obtained when combined with a healthy diet and regular exercise program."  BAM ... what is the point of wasting money?  Once a healthy diet and exercise program are implemented results will follow and that is without taking whatever is in that bottle.  Also, all supplements are not regulated and many not clinically studi...