SCOTUS Denies Importer's Challenge to Requirement of CBP Protest Within 180 Days of Liquidation

The Supreme Court of the U.S. on Oct. 2 denied a petition for writ of certiorari from importer Acquisition 362, doing business as Strategic Import Supply, regarding an opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit requiring protests to be filed within 180 days of liquidation. The appellate court rejected the claim that protests can be filed within 180 days of the date the Commerce Department issues antidumping and countervailing duty instructions to CBP (see 2302060029).

Strategic Import Supply said in its bid for a review at the high court that it didn't file a protest within the 180 days following liquidation since there was no reason to at the time. Only after the window closed did Commerce drop the applicable countervailing duty rate, prompting the protests (see 2305150020). Both the Court of International Trade and the appellate court upheld CBP's denial of the protests. The importer said the strict deadline would encourage, or even require, premature protests, which case law has shown to be an invalid basis for jurisdiction at the trade court.