Frozen risottos are classified as pre-cooked foods under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States heading 1904, even though the risottos are only par-cooked and require more cooking by the consumer, CBP said in a recently released headquarters ruling. Though the importer argued for classification as food preparations of HTS heading 2106, CBP said foods may be considered pre-cooked if they require up to 12 minutes of additional cooking time, and the frozen risottos only require cooking for two to seven minutes more, CBP said in HQ H325964.
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The government owes interest on refunded duty overpayments made with a prior disclosure, importer Otter argued in a Feb. 16 motion at the Court of International Trade. Government arguments that repayments of voluntary tenders are not subject to interest accruals means that penalties for prior disclosures could never be enforced if they were made before a penalty was issued, Otter said (Otter Products v. United States, CIT #22-00033).
The Court of International Trade in a Feb. 17 opinion set aside a March 2022 decision in a customs spat over reimported swimsuits to hear an additional argument from the U.S., though the court ultimately reached the same conclusion.
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Feb. 13 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The Court of International Trade in a Feb. 13 order granted importer Strato's voluntary dismissal notice without prejudice in its customs case on selective cushioning units. While the U.S. did not serve an answer nor a motion for summary judgment in the case, Strato's counsel discussed with the government's counsel and agreed to voluntarily dismiss the case, the order said (Strato v. United States, CIT # 22-00315).
The Court of International Trade should dismiss a government counterclaim that its boronized steel tubes, originally classified by CBP as duty-free U.S. goods returned after repairs or alterations, are unfinished steel tubes subject to Section 301 tariffs, Maple Leaf Marketing argued in a Feb. 10 brief. The counterclaim runs against the principle of finality of liquidation, the importer said (Maple Leaf Marketing v. U.S., CIT # 20-03839).