The Court of International Trade on Aug. 18 dismissed a lawsuit filed by the maker of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps and other importers to challenge an Enforce and Protect Act determination that they evaded antidumping duties on xanthan gum from China. The trade court found the soapmaker, All One God Faith, as well as another importer did not file suit under jurisdiction provisions for denied protests, and so could not overcome the erroneous liquidation of their entries by CBP.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruling to overturn a Court of International Trade decision that called into question the use of first sale treatment for imported goods involving non-market economy countries (see 2208110060) is largely seen as providing a welcome relief to importers, several law firms said. "For those importers enjoying the benefits of lower declared values and duties, particularly from China in light of Section 301 tariffs, there is no longer a need for concern now that, on appeal, the court has given first sale a nod," Sandler Travis lawyer Lenny Feldman said on a podcast. The original CIT decision (Meyer Corporation v. U.S., Fed. Cir. #21-1392) raised some concerns for the future of first sale treatment (see 2104200028).

The Court of International Trade on Aug. 18 upheld the Commerce Department’s decision to apply facts available to production costs for a French steel plate exporter unable to distinguish between costs for its prime and non-prime merchandise, but again remanded the agency’s determination to use sales prices as a stand-in.

A Commerce Department scope ruling improperly found that two-ply hardwood plywood falls under the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on hardwood plywood from China, plaintiffs Vietnam Finewood, Far East American and Liberty Woods said in an Aug. 16 motion at the Court of International Trade (Vietnam Finewood Company Ltd. v. U.S., CIT #22-00049).

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The Court of International Trade on Aug. 16 remanded the Commerce Department's cost calculations for a Brazilian paper manufacturer during the third administrative review of the antidumping duty order on uncoated paper from Brazil (Suzano S.A. v. United States, CIT #21-00069).

The five-year statute of limitations for fraudulent civil penalty enforcement action in the Court of International Trade might begin to run from the date the government is sufficiently on notice rather than on the date of documented confirmation, Greenlight Organic, Inc. and Parambir Singh Aulakh argued in an Aug. 12 motion for an interlocutory appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to decide the statute of limitations issue (U.S. v. Greenlight Organic and Parambir Singh Aulakh, CIT #17-00031).

Two importers each will pay seven-figure sums to settle False Claims Act lawsuits related to the undervaluation of their customs entries and underpayment of duties, DOJ said Aug. 11. Apparel importer Luchiano Visconti and its manager, Sasha Hourizadeh, will together pay $3.64 million to settle allegations they sent fraudulent invoices to their customs broker that understated the actual price paid. In a separate settlement, Eos Energy Storage will pay $1.02 million to resolve allegations that it failed to declare assists and other additions to transaction value.

Remand redeterminations recently submitted by the Commerce Department in two related cases are not final agency decisions that can be sustained by the Court of International Trade, and doing so would circumvent the trade court’s judicial review process, CIT said in a pair of Aug. 10 decisions rejecting the remand results in a case involving a scope ruling on door thresholds.

CBP has no basis to consider a country’s non-market economy status when determining whether to grant first sale treatment to a transaction, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said Aug. 11 in a widely anticipated decision involving cookware imported by Meyer.