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I'll be off blog for a bit. I'll be back. Give me a week or two.

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Notes on Use and Classification

I did not read The Da Vinci Code . I may be the only literate American who can say that. I did read The Historian , which is an apparently similar tale of following literary and historical clues to unravel an ancient mystery. In the case of The Historian, the mystery is the whether Vlad Tepes (better known as Dracula) still lives. It's an entertaining and engaging book that covers a lot of ground from the Cold War to East-West tensions. Why is this relevant to customs law? Because tariff classification is really a matter of following the literary trail of rules through the Tariff Schedule along with the gloss applied by the Explanatory Notes, CBP rulings, and court decisions. In many ways, it is not all that complicated. The trick is finding all the applicable rules and applying them properly. One question that has come up recently is the meaning of "use" in a tariff term. Here, again, the answer comes from finding the right rule. Additional U.S. Rule of Interpretation 1...
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Cyber Power Decision Keeps the Lights On Origin

The Court of International Trade has issued the much anticipated (at least by me) decision on the merits in Cyber Power Systems (USA) Inc. v. United States . It's a bit of a roller coaster ride. The plaintiff clearly hits some bumps along the way, but there is a thrilling conclusion. So, buckle up. The case is about the country of origin of five models of uninterruptible power suppliers ("UPS") and one surge protector. The UPS is essentially a glorified backup battery for computers and other devices. In the event of a power failure, the UPS kicks in to power the device and may assist in a "graceful shutdown." Modern UPS include printed circuit board assemblies that monitor the battery to ensure it is fully charged, monitor the available supply of electricity, switch to the battery when needed, provide status reports and other functions. All of that takes some firmware stored in chips on the boards. The surge protector is a simpler, but still electronic device, t...
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Scope: Aluminum Extrusions and Finished Goods Kits

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Understanding the scope of antidumping and countervailing duty orders is critically important for customs compliance professionals. It does a company no good whatsoever to find a low-cost producer of some product somewhere outside the U.S. only to later discover after importation that the merchandise is subject to an antidumping or countervailing duty. Given that antidumping and countervailing duties are often in excess of 30% and have been as high as 300%, this is a potentially serious concern. If Customs and Border Protection discovers the error and the error resulted from negligence, it can collect the unpaid duties plus penalties covering a five-year period. In some cases, that can be enough to bankrupt a small importer. Before we get into this case, let me dispel a common misunderstanding. CBP "flags" HTSUS classifications that are potentially subject to an ADD or CVD order. As a result, many brokers and importers manage AD and CVD compliance through tariff classificat...
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