Interest: Equitable and Otherwise
The Federal Circuit has affirmed the Court of International Trade's holding that a surety is be liable for statutory interest but not for equitable interest when the importer defaults on the payment of antidumping duties. What follows is heavy on law, short on fact, and important to sureties and also importers. The case is United States v. American Home Assurance Company . When importers fail to pay duties, taxes, and fees to the U.S. government, the government can collect interest on the unpaid portion. If the importer defaults, the surety becomes liable up to the value of the bond, unless the surety has a defense it can assert (and [spoiler] actually asserts it). In this case, the importer defaulted on the payment of antidumping duties and Customs tried to collect the duties and interest from the surety. There was no question about the liability for the duties. The questions presented has to do with interest. There are multiple bases for the interest. First, interest is avail...