CIT Injunction Offers Importers Potential Relief from Section 232 Derivative Product Duties

On February 13, 2020, Court of International Trade (CIT) issued an injunction barring U.S. Customs an Border Protection (CBP) from collecting new Section 232 tariffs on finished steel and aluminum products from a single importer, PrimeSource Building Products (PrimeSource). The preliminary injunction states that CBP cannot collect “duty deposits” on PrimeSource’s entries of goods covered by these additional tariffs, which took effect on February 8, 2020. The injunction, however, sets specific bonding requirements while the merits of the appeal are being reviewed by CIT and until a final judgment is issued in the case.