US, Importer Move for CIT Mediation of Customs Penalty Suit on Tire Imports

The U.S. and importer Katana Racing jointly moved to refer a customs penalty suit to court-annexed mediation before the Court of International Trade following the court's recent decision rejecting Katana Racing's renewed motion to dismiss. The parties said in light of the decision, they "believe that resolution to this litigation could potentially be reached through court-annexed mediation" (U.S. v. Katana Racing, CIT # 19-00125).

The government brought the suit to collect duties on 386 entries of tires imported during 2009-2012, which Katana said were entered as the result of identity theft. The importer waived the statute of limitations while it worked with CBP to sort out the issue, though it was eventually assessed $5.7 million for the unpaid duties. Katana then tried to revoke the waiver.

In its first decision, CIT said the waiver was properly revoked, dismissing the case for lack of jurisdiction (see 2203280047). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed, finding that the statute of limitations isn't a jurisdictional issue but rather an "affirmative defense" (see 2308030034).

Back at CIT, the court rejected Katana's renewed motion to dismiss, finding that the U.S. didn't fail to: properly identify the "person" liable for the violation, exhaust administrative remedies or bring the case on time (see 2409090047). The decision found there were still genuine issues of material facts, including who the importer of the goods is.