Victoria's Secret Files Flurry of Lawsuits Seeking Settlements on Shelf-Bra Top Classification

Victoria's Secret and One Step Up filed 19 complaints at the Court of International Trade alleging that CBP had misclassified women's garments over a series of entries between 2002 and 2008. The 13 complaints (in Pacer) by Victoria's Secret and six by One Step Up filed on March 12 ask CIT to direct CBP to reliquidate the entries and refund the excess duties collected, with interest.

The complaints concern women's knitted tops with a built-in shelf bra. CBP liquidated the entries between 2002 and 2008 under subheadings 6109.10.00, 6110.90.00, 6110.20.20 and 6110.3030 as knit tank tops and pullovers of cotton or man-made fibers.

Victoria's Secret and One Step Up say the goods should be reclassified as “Other garments, knitted or crocheted, of cotton” under subheading 6114.20.00 and 6114.30.10 as "Other garments, knitted or crocheted, of man-made fibers," and argue that the items are similar to those at issue in three previous decisions that held that knitted outer garments that provide significant body coverage and bust support are classifiable under heading 6114 (see 13050223).

Robert Silverman, who represents Victoria's Secret and One Step Up, said they filed complaints in these cases to expedite the stipulation process. "We tried a case on shelf bra tops a while ago but we still have these open claims pending on the same types of garments. … It is our expectation that these complaints will not result in active litigation, but will be a house cleaning operation to finally close out these claims.”