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Showing posts from November, 2016

Quick Post: Tyco Affirmed

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed the Court of International Trade decision in Tyco Fire Products v. United States . You can read the background on this case here . The Federal Circuit held that liquid-filled glass bulbs of the sort used in fire sprinklers are properly classified as articles of glass in Heading 7020 rather than as mechanical appliance of Heading 8424. There are two interesting points to take away from this decision. The first is that the Federal Circuit, at least this panel, is skeptical of the value of the Brussels Tariff Nomenclature Explanatory Notes when interpreting the current Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. This is in part because Customs declared the HTSUS to be a wholly new system and that the BTN Notes are of no value when interpreting the new text. The CAFC did not definitively decide this issue, but it certainly creates doubt as to the continuing value of the old notes. The second point is that the CAFC indicates

Perpetuating Testimony

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I am on the record complaining about the amount of discovery that is requested in many, not all but many, customs cases before the U.S. Court of International Trade. My belief is that in many cases, mostly tariff classification cases, there is not a reasonable basis to dispute the nature of the product. That is not necessarily the case when issues like principal use or essential character are concerned. But, in many cases, the actual physical characteristics of the item are known and not reasonably subject to debate. That physical reality will usually trump arguments based on personal understandings, marketing, and intention. As a general rule, I don't think it matters that Malcom down in Engineering always calls the electric toothbrushes he designs "machine tools." Nor do I think it matters that an Import Specialist at the Port of Smallville, Kansas once said that the electric toothbrush should be classified as toothbrushes rather than as electromechanical domestic appli

Two Days Left to Vote Bigly

Two days left to vote for my work blog in the Best Legal Blog contest . Because I learn from current events, I would like to modify my previously friendly and polite pitch. This blog contest is rigged. The IP lawyers and immigration lawyers are out to get me. Lawyers from big firms in NY and Washington are sneaking in, pretending to be niche boutiques, but they are really old, tired, losers with no stamina. My blog is the best, the best. It bigly covers import law, which really is the most important law. I know customs law like no one else. I just do. If you vote for me, you'll see, it will be great. I will win because that's what I do. I will make my blog great again and that will make you all great again. Who will pay for that? Mexico, that's who. Vote here .

Anyone Curious About Withdrawing from NAFTA?

For some reason, I have been asked what it would take for the U.S. to withdraw from NAFTA or another trade agreement. Funny how that comes up today, the day after the U.S. presidential election. The answer is not 100% clear. In Article 2205 , the NAFTA says the US can withdraw with 6-months written notice. If that happens, the agreement stays in place between Mexico and Canada. How that happens is a question. The US would certainly be out of the agreement going forward, but most of the implementation of NAFTA was through legislation. That legislation might still be in place until Congress removes it. Arguably, the legislation might automatically repeal itself. 19 USC 3451 says that if a country withdraws, the amendments made to implement NAFTA “cease to have effect with respect to that country.” It is not clear whether “that country” can be the US or whether that implies that Canada or Mexico has left NAFTA. There would be much litigation. Other trade agreements likely work th

Vote for Me, Too

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Election day is here. If you have not already voted, get out tomorrow and vote. After you have voted, come back and vote for this blog in the Expert Institute Legal Blog Contest. There are only about six days left to vote and my early surge is fading. Please show your support. You can vote at this link.

Customs Law: Presidential Edition

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Next week we in the U.S. will have a new president-elect. Getting there has been an unusually disheartening referendum on the mood and direction of the country. Voting always matters, but it might matter more this year than in a very long time. With that, we take a quick look at Von Stade v. Arthur, 28 F. Cas. 1274 (S.D.N.Y. 1876)(I cannot find a fee link). Here is the decision in its entirety: SHIPMAN, District Judge.  The second section of the act of June 6, 1872 (17 Stat. 231), provided, that, on and after August 1st, 1872, the existing duties upon the articles which are enumerated in the section should be reduced ten per centum.  The section specifies, among the enumerated articles, "all wools, hair of the alpaca goat, and other animals, and all manufactures wholly or in part of wool, or hair of the alpaca and other like animals, except as hereinafter provided." The question in this case is, whether the duty of fifteen cents per pound upon hogs' bristles was redu

Ruling of the Week 2016.21: Holy HoloLens!

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Over the years, I have opined on the tariff classification of a number of gizmos that I think are probably computers. Often, Customs and Border Protection disagreed with me. Usually, this has to do with whether the particular item is "freely programmable" as opposed to having a specific and limited function. For example, here is a discussion on big industrial digital printers. Here is another on a music editing system and another  on a smart watch. I also previously admitted to being a middle-aged Microsoft fanboy. So, this next post is right in my wheelhouse. If you are not familiar with Microsoft's HoloLens, watch this video. The imported merchandise is the Microsoft HoloLens and its associated "clicker" controller. HoloLens is a computer [ spoiler ]. It has a 32-bit processor, 2 GB RAM, 64 GB storage, a graphics processor, and Wi-Fi connectivity. Most important for our purposes, it runs Windows 10 and supports applications written for that environm