Lawfirm

[UPDATE: Sometimes, Congress fixes things. That is the case here. The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 includes, at § 911 a fix for the issue discussed in this post. The relevant amendment changes the existing law "by striking 'on which notice of the original liquidation is given or transmitted to the importer, his consignee or agent' and inserting 'of the original liquidation'.” This should make the relevant date the date on which the deemed liquidation occurs, not the date of notice, which is how it should be (if you ask me).] The second recent case from the Court of International Trade involves the deemed liquidation of an entry. It is United States v. Great American Insurance Company of New York . This is a collection case in which the United States is seeking $50,000 from a surety for unpaid antidumping duties, plus pre-judgment and post-judgment interest. For purposes of my own time management, I am just going to give you the take-aways....

I read this motivation today and I could not have penned it better myself, especially during the holiday season .  We lose sight of what an incredible opportunity we have to get fit and instead of looking at it as a burden, we should be spilling over with thankfulness.  Do you have a working body?  I do, and although I may have some medical limitations, it has taught me to appreciate what I can do with what I have. Do we really have a right to sit and complain about how difficult getting healthy is when others can't even lift from a wheelchair?  We live in a stressed up world and most of the time self-induced with all the busy stuff that keeps us away from the important things in life.  Getting fit and healthy is a privilege just the same as growing older.  If our mindset is not screwed on right, we will make a mess of what life is all about, including how to treat our bodies. Instead of looking at meal prep to keep you on track with your fitness goals as...

Interesting court decisions are piling up. The first is American Power Pull Corp. v. United States . This case involves two entries of hand trucks from China, which are subject to an antidumping duty order. At the time of entry, the importer deposited 26.49% of the value of the merchandise as a dumping duty deposit and Customs issued a notice of suspension of liquidation. A periodic review covering the entries followed and Customs continued the suspension of liquidation. After the review, and no doubt much to the disappointment of the plaintiff, the assessment rate was set at 383.60%. The producer filed suit to challenge that determination, no doubt making the plaintiff in this case happy. The Court granted an injunction against liquidation of the entry. Eventually, the rate was reduced to 145.90% and Commerce issued liquidation instructions to Customs and Border Protection. When CBP liquidated the entries with the additional assessment, American Power Pull protested, assertin...

In a really surprising move, Tata Motors roped in the football legend Lionel Messi as the brand ambassador. Tata Motors has been in a sticky wicket in the last few years. Once the Indica magic was over, Tata motors were not able to produce a volume player. Nano was a disappointment and the company watched its competitor  rolling out best sellers year after year.  The company had been working hard behind the scenes under the revival strategy named Horizon Next. The first two products under this plan were the Zest and Bolt. Both gained good reviews in the market, but the baggage of the Tata Motors brand was pulling down any scope for a spectacular show. Perception is powerful and often enduring and it is not easy to change perceptions. The  lack of perfection and nagging complaints of earlier Tata Motors cars created strong perceptions which are proving to be a tough nut to crack. Tata Motors is one of those brands which people know, like and trust but doesn't want to buy....

Since the earliest days of this blog, I have used Sitemeter to count the number of visits. The count is currently 233,472. Sitemeter has gone haywire and I rarely delve deeply into my visitor data anyway. So, I am pulling the link from the bottom of the page. If anyone has a suggestion for a good and free way to get analytics, let me know.

Fitness is a process and an ongoing journey of learning what works and what doesn't.  There will be ups, downs, frustrations and victories fine tuning our daily choices.  The point is to continue the uphill climb to becoming our best healthy self.  It's not about having all the answers because we never will.  During our life, our bodies will change, circumstances will happen and the pursuit of health and happiness will need to continue no matter what.  Quitting is never an option for us. Fitness comes at a price and we do not get a free pass to good health.  Life is not that easy although many of us search around for things believing it possible and spend too much money on wasted gimmicks and unregulated supplements .  It is really OK to take things slow and enjoy the fitness ride along the way.  We are all works in progress in search of being better than yesterday.  Mistakes are not seen as failure but opportunities of learning and not repea...

I'm going to do this one quickly because I am busy and the case is straightforward, but still an important lesson. In Design International Group v. United States , the Court of International Trade reaffirmed the rule that an importer may only file one protest contesting the liquidation of an entry. In the case, the importer made two entries of pencils. When Customs liquidated the entries, it allegedly miscalculated the quantity and, as a result, incorrectly assessed duty. The broker for the importer filed protests for each entry. That right there is one protest per entry. Customs denied both entries. Subsequently, counsel for the importer filed a third protest challenging the denial of both prior protests. That is a second protest challenging the liquidation of each of the entries. When Customs and Border Protection denied that third protest, the importer filed suit in the Court of International Trade, using the third denied protest as the basis for jurisdiction. What do you think?...

It would be easy to blame food for being overweight and unhealthy, but the truth is food is not the enemy.  In fact, our survival is based on our need for food and water to run our body.  If we are honest about our lives, it is about taking responsibility for our fitness and making choices to keep us healthy.  Quality of food could be part of the issue, but then again who is making the decision to eat the frozen pizzas, burgers and fries in super size portions.  Actually, getting down to the chemistry and caloric needs of our body, eating too much is the biggest factor of not being fit.  Even if we ate the crap food and kept it within the calorie portion to run our body , we could be labeled 'skinny fat people' .  On the outside we may give an appearance of being an appropriate weight, but inside we are a hot mess and feeling like it.  There is nothing good that exists in processed fake food and the damage it does to our body through inflammation an...