CBP Proposes to Limit Court Decisions on Wrench Definition

CBP is proposing to limit the reach of Court of International Trade and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rulings involving locking pliers, it said in the Nov. 20 issue of the Customs Bulletin released on Nov. 19. CBP's proposal stems from a CAFC ruling this year (see 1904100037) and a pair of 2017 CIT rulings (see 1704130035 and 1709210048) that involved Irwin locking pliers. “CBP believes that the definition applied by the court unduly limits the scope of the term wrench and precludes articles that function as wrenches and are commonly and commercially known as wrenches from classification as wrenches," it said.

Despite CBP's arguments during litigation that the definition used by the CIT was too narrow, the CAFC affirmed the CIT's "definition of the term 'wrenches' in heading 8204 and held that the tools at issue were properly classified as pliers," the agency said. CBP's proposal would limit the court rulings to "the merchandise in the specific entries before the courts and to locking pliers identical in all material respects to those in Irwin," it said. "In all other cases, CBP will continue to define a wrench as a tool with a special ability to fixedly grasp an object and allow the user to exert a twisting or wrenching force."

CBP has authority under 19 USC § 1625(d) and 19 CFR § 177.10(d) to prevent further application of court decisions, it said. "CBP and Legacy Customs have a long history of limiting the application of certain judicial decisions adverse to the government when it was decided that the same issues should be relitigated in regards to merchandise not identical to those in a particular judicial decision."

The agency has used this authority infrequently and 2005 seems to be the last time CBP issued such a proposal (see 05070110). "The power to do this flows from a quirk of customs law" that says "every entry of merchandise is a separate cause of action," a customs lawyer said. "Theoretically, CBP could make Irwin relitigate the issue for entries that were not subject to the court decision. There is no reason to think that the CIT and CAFC would reach a different decision, but Customs has decided (unless it changes its position) that anyone else who wants to apply this decision will have to protest and litigate."