Lawsuits Challenging Protest Denials Involving Section 301 Exclusions May Result in Refunds, Lawyer Says

Cases brought in the Court of International Trade that seek to challenge denied protests over granted exclusions to the Section 301 tariffs may eventually result in refunds for duties paid on excluded products, Ted Murphy of Sidley Austin said in an April 26 blog post. CBP is now “making its way through the incredible number of post-summary corrections and protests that were filed claiming refunds of Section 301 duties based on approved exclusions,” he said. “While most clients have had most of their refund requests approved, a handful of requests have been denied by CBP with limited explanation. Following up on the denials has not always produced satisfying results. As a result, we are filling (and have been seeing other firms file) suits” at the CIT.

Murphy laid out a path to receive refunds for those duties paid without getting bogged down by excessive litigation in the CIT. The idea of the filings are to “demonstrate to the government that the imported articles are covered by the exclusions, short of full-blown litigation (e.g., if agreement can be reached while the case is on the reserve calendar, then the parties would enter into a stipulated judgment on an agreed statement of facts),” Murphy said. “The point to note here is that, if you filed Section 301 refund requests with CBP and some of those request have been denied in error (or so you believe), there may still be [a way] to pursue that refund without incurring the expense of a full CIT action.”