A new bill introduced in the Senate March 15 would dramatically increase penalties for fraud and gross negligence and create a new pathway for civil lawsuits against customs violators from companies, labor unions and trade associations that have been injured by customs fraud.
Customs Duty
A Customs Duty is a tariff or tax which a country imposes on goods when they are transported across international borders. Customs Duties are used to protect countries' economies, residents, jobs, and environments, by limiting the flow of imported merchandise, especially restricted and prohibited goods, into the country. The Customs Duty Rate is a percentage determined by the value of the article purchased in the foreign country and not based on quality, size, or weight.
CBP's Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) will next meet March 29 in Seattle, CBP said in a notice. Comments are due in writing by March 24.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is "unlikely" to revisit its 2004 decision finding that False Claims Act qui tam cases involving customs duty avoidance belong at the Court of International Trade, law firm Morgan Lewis said in a Feb. 23 blog post. Overturning the decision would require an en banc ruling from the court, something that does not seem probable given that it is a whistleblower action in which the government hasn't intervened, the post said.
A False Claims Act whistleblower received $210,000 from a $1 million customs fraud settlement with global trading and investment firm Samsung C&T America, McInnis Law announced. The U.S. announced it settled the case over charges SCTA violated the FCA by misclassifying footwear imports via false entry documents to avoid paying customs duties (see 2302080008).
The Commerce Department issued notices in the Federal Register on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on tin mill products from Canada, China, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey and the U.K. (A-122-869, A-570-150, A-428-851, A-580-915, A-421-816, A-583-870, A-489-848, A-412- 827), and its countervailing duty investigation on tin mill products from China (C-570-151). The CVD investigation covers entries for the calendar year 2022. The AD investigations on Canada, Germany, Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey and the U.K. cover the period Jan. 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2022, and the AD investigation on China covers entries July 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2022.
Washington state-based auto broker BidBuy Auctions settled a customs fraud case with DOJ, agreeing to pay $430,000, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington announced. The qui tam case saw a former BidBuy employee allege the auto broker lied to CBP about the value of imported vehicles to pay less in duties. As a result of the settlement, the former employee-turned-whistleblower will get 23%, or $98,900, of the $430,000 payment.
Meyer Corp.'s imports of cookware do not qualify for first-sale treatment, the Court of International Trade held in a Feb. 9 opinion. After ruling against Meyer's bid for a retrial in the opinion, Judge Thomas Aquilino said that, because the court doesn't know the extent to which parent company Meyer Holdings had the ability to influence the price paid for the goods sold between affiliates, due to the company's failure to submit its financial information, the use of first sale was not supported.
In the Feb. 8 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 57, No. 5), CBP published a proposal to revoke rulings on white noise machines and reflective aluminum panels.
The U.S. settled a civil suit against global trading and investment firm Samsung C&T America -- a subsidiary of Korean conglomerate Samsung C&T Corp. -- over charges SCTA violated the False Claims Act by misclassifying footwear imports to avoid paying customs duties, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced. The importer will pay $1 million to the U.S. and make admissions over its conduct, specifically that it misclassified its imports on entry documents filed with CBP and underpaid custom duties, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York opened and settled a case with vitamin and nutritional supplement importer International Vitamins Corp. (IVC) over the company's misclassification of its products to avoid paying customs duties, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Jan. 30. IVC will pay $22.87 million to the U.S. and admit to its conduct. The government joined its lawsuit with a whistleblower action filed under seal pursuant to the False Claims Act, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.