Administrative Law

Residue and Tires

Posted on September 14, 2009
On the regulatory front, Customs and Border Protection is delaying enforcement of the rule requiring the entry of previously considered empty containers if there is residue in the container. For now, they can be treated as empty. The implementation of this change is delayed until further notice...

Classification Case

Posted on September 09, 2009
Generally, I worry about any court opinion that requires its own table of contents, but in my effort to fill the gaps in my recent blogging, I will jump into ENI Technologies v. United States.The merchandise involved is RF generators that take AC electricity, convert it to DC and then produce electrical current at specific frequencies and power...

Starting to Catch Up

Posted on September 08, 2009
I have not been able to devote much time to detailed analysis lately. I hope those of you able to access it have been keeping up with developments via www.twitter.com/customslawblog. For what it's worth, I'll start the process of catching up here.On September 2, the President published a notice of changes to the NAFTA Rules of Origin and to the U...

I Have A Blog?

Posted on September 04, 2009
Dear Readers:Yes, it's true, I have a blog and the self-imposed responsibility to keeping my readers informed of important developments relating to customs and international trade law and to pass on various amusing anecdotes. The problem is that I also have a job...

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News on the Laptop Seaarch Front

Posted on August 31, 2009
There has been activity in DHS on Customs and Border Protection policy regarding laptop searches. First, I tweeted a while back that the ACLU has sued Homeland Security for access to records regarding the searches.On August 18, 2009 Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a directive (7-1...

I am NOT a Collections Lawyer

Posted on August 29, 2009
There are lots of legal specialties. There are space lawyers, oil and gas lawyers, internet lawyers, and customs lawyers. There are also collection lawyers. These are the people you go to when you are having trouble collecting on a debt. They work for banks and other creditors...

Note to Rita Moreno: You are an American!

Posted on August 29, 2009
In West Side Story, the Puerto Rican character Anita (played by Ms. Moreno) sings that she wants to be an American (in mixed 6/8 3/4 time). It turns out that she is. At least as far as the U.S. Court of International Trade is concerned.OK, maybe that is an over statement...

Don't Do the Crime . . . .

Posted on August 25, 2009
Entrapment is a funny legal concept. People who feel that they got a ticket or were arrested when the police used unsporting means often claim entrapment. But, hiding a police car behind a hedge to catch speeders is not entrapment in the technical sense...

Going Incognito

Posted on August 17, 2009
I'll be unbloggable for the remainder of the week. Just to make sure you miss me, I'll leave you with these bits of interesting information to discuss among yourselves.First, I will not be doing an analysis of Depersia v. U.S. I've talked about broker license exam appeals before and there is not much to say...

CAFC Remands Broker Penalty Case

Posted on August 13, 2009
On August 11, the Federal Circuit issued an opinion in UPS Customhouse Brokerage. We have covered this case a number of times including here, here, and here. The really interesting question in UPS is whether there is a statutory limitation on the penalties that can be assessed against brokers...

A Lesson on AGOA

Posted on August 11, 2009
Getting Customs and Border Protection to accept a claim for duty-free entry under the African Growth and Opportunity Act is becoming a tough task for your local customs lawyer. That is easily seen in Polly U.S.A. v. United States, a recent decision of the Court of International Trade...

Warning: This Blog Looks Spammy

Posted on August 06, 2009
I received a notice from Blogger today that this blog has been flagged as spam. According to Blogger, spam blogs have certain similar characteristics including: "irrelevant, repetitive, or nonsensical text, along with a large number of links, usually all pointing to a single site...

A Cry for Help (Amended)

Posted on August 05, 2009
Note: I cleaned this up a bit for clarity and to eliminate evidence of my poor typing skills.An anonymous commenter asked for an explanation of the difference between NAFTA marking, NAFTA originating, and origination for purposes of government procurement...

In My Head Today

Posted on July 29, 2009
Chicago is an absolutely great city for bike commuting. I rode 20 miles today and do not think I changed gears once. Take that San Francisco! It was about 65 and sunny when I left my house and I had a tail wind most of the way. Locals should note, Lawrence is a mess between California and Western...

NAFTA Marking Ruling

Posted on July 27, 2009
NAFTA marking issues are complicated. One problem is that people tend not to focus on the marking regulations. They seem to think that once they have determined whether the item is originating, they are done. Often, the marking is obvious, but sometimes it is not...

What's an iPod?

Posted on July 24, 2009
With all due respect to Apple, I'm a Zune guy. I am perfectly happy with the hardware and have to say that I find the software far more friendly than iTunes, particularly when it comes to managing my long list of podcasts. It seems cnet agrees.But, I digress...

Quoted on Windy Pundit

Posted on July 24, 2009
Mark Draugh of local blog Windy Pundit did a nice rant about Customs and Border Protection's authority to seize a laptop at the border and mused about what happens if the hard drive is encrypted. In response, I sent an e-mail explaining how that could break bad for the owner of the laptop...

ISF Penalty Mitigation Guildlines

Posted on July 17, 2009
I have been working on a fascinating off-topic post involving popular music, technology, and quantum physics. Instead of that, you get Guidelines for the Assessment and Cancellation of Claims for Liquidated Damages for Failure to Comply with the Vessel Stow Plan, Container Status Message, and Importer Security Filing Requirements...

New FAQ on Wood Packing Material

Posted on July 15, 2009
This is one of those things that only customs geeks, logistics jocks, and entomologists would ever think about: pests in wood packing materials. In any warehouse, you are likely to find wooden pallets and crates. The buyer of whatever came on or in that material rarely cares one whit about the packing material...

China Tires Remedy

Posted on July 15, 2009
The International Trade Commission has proposed a remedy in the safeguard case involving tires from China. This case arises under the safeguards provisions of China's WTO accession agreement. The ITC is proposing that the U.S. impose 55% duties in the first year of the remedy, 45% in the second year, and 35% in the third...

Knife Fight Part II: The Senate Cuts In

Posted on July 14, 2009
Boy, Customs can't seem to catch a break. This issue about the treatment of assisted opening knives probably struck Customs and Border Protection as another simple ruling revocation of which no one would take note. Turns out, that is not the case.Now, the Senate has stepped in with an amendment to some a Homeland Security appropriations bill...

Where is My Honey From?

Posted on July 08, 2009
Sorry to the grammar geeks for ending the title with a preposition. "From where is my honey," did not seem to work.The US Department of Agriculture is announcing a new rule requiring that honey bearing a USDA grade label or other USDA certification mark also be marked with its country of origin...

What's Happening Here?

Posted on July 08, 2009
Last I heard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection was trying to impose penalties against Union Pacific for what Customs considered to be lax security relating to trains entering from Mexico. In July, 2008, UP filed a suit trying to avoid the penalty by pointing out that the trains were under CBP control, not UP's...

Pannier Update

Posted on July 07, 2009
By far, the most widely read and commented upon post in the history of this blog is one in which I fretted about the choice between pannier bags and a messenger bag to tote things to work when I ride my bike. I have often been asked what I decided to do...

Knife Fight

Posted on July 07, 2009
UPDATED AT BOTTOMI have been avoiding this issue because I did not think many people would actually care. But, in terms of the popular press (AKA the MSM), it seems to be the customs-related story of the moment.Knife lovers beware, Customs and Border Protection wants to treat certain pocket knives that open via a spring or other assisted release mechanism as switchblades...

Morning News

Posted on July 07, 2009
The Office of the USTR has ask for WTO consultations on Chinese policies limiting the export of various forms of bauxite, coke fluorspar, and other minerals. Bauxite is an important industrial material in that it is the basic form of aluminum ore. Coke is a coal-derived fuel that is useful, among other things, in the smelting of iron...

Twitter is Killing Me

Posted on July 06, 2009
OK, I have bad news for the Twitter side: I like my blog and my blog readers like me. I'm having a hard time balancing both. In the morning, I scour my usual sources to look for items to tweet. In the past, those would have been blog fodder. Well, they need to be again...

CPSC Activity and Big Bugs

Posted on July 01, 2009
Here are some things I need to get off my desk before they are too old to be of use to you.On June 29, the CPSC published a Federal Register Notice proposing a rule to implement the requirements for consumer registration of durable infant or toddler products...

New from the Wild West

Posted on June 26, 2009
I tweeted this story (see my problem?) but it was recently tipped to me from another lawyer, so I'll give it some coverage here.It seems that Jesus Argandona has been sentenced to a year in prison and a $200,000 fine. His offense: arranging the illegal export of $600,000 in blank CDs into Mexico...

Master of My Domains

Posted on June 24, 2009
I'm starting to wonder about what belongs on this blog. For that, you can blame Twitter.I find I am posting the odd bits of customs related news here because I can toss off a tweet about it just as efficiently. If you're not following me, I'm at www...

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