Customs Law

Andy Vance was a legendary figure in customs law and litigation. After a career at the Justice Department, he joined Barnes, Richardson & Colburn as a partner in the NY office. Sadly, I just missed the opportunity to work with him. The CITBA writing competition named in his honor is a great opportunity for J.D. and LL.M. students to demonstrate their interest in and knowledge of customs and international trade law. Plus, there is a monetary prize. Papers are due in June 2. See the details below. 2024-2025 Andrew P. Vance Memorial Writing Competition Call for Papers Wednesday, January 29, 2025   | Posted by CITBA Staff The Customs and International Trade Bar Association (CITBA) and Georgetown Law School are pleased to announce 2024-2025 Andrew P. Vance Memorial writing Competition. The competition is welcoming papers with an in-depth analysis of a current issue relevant to customs and international trade law. Entrants must be currently enrolled in a J.D. or L.L.M. program at any...

I realize I have been gone for a while. The first Trump Administration generated enough compliance work, litigation, and general chaos to keep me too busy and too stressed to do many things. One such thing was writing this blog. I did it mainly because I enjoy the process, and it forced me to stay on top of cases from the Court of International Trade and Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Explaining those decisions in what I intend to be an approachable style helped me understand them. Over the past year, I have at times considered restarting the blog and never found the time or inspiration. Apparently, that has changed.  You may have noticed that the second Trump administration is off to a fast start in the trade space. We have new 10% tariffs on goods from China and 25% tariffs on an expanded list of steel and aluminum products. The 232 exclusion process has been shuttered. Reciprocal tariffs are being floated, as are potential tariffs on cars, pharmaceuticals, and chips....

Despite being judicial review of agency action, principles of administrative law do not always apply to customs law. That is because most decisions by Customs and Border Protection affecting the importation of merchandise are subject to administrative review in the protest process and then judicial review on a de novo standard. That means the judge will make a decision based on the evidence presented to the court rather than the administrative record on which the agency based its decision.  For comparison, in a trade case, the court will uphold a Commerce Department dumping margin calculation as long as the decision is based on substantial evidence in the record  and is otherwise in accordance with law. That means the agency can prevail even if the court would have reached a contrary conclusion. That is the opposite of, for example, a tariff classification case in which the court is required to reach the correct result based on the evidence before it with little regard for Cus...