GRVR ATTORNEYS, INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW SPECIALISTS
  • Home
  • Who we are
    • Client Dedication
    • Our Legal Team
    • Join Our Team
  • Our Practice
    • Customs and Import
    • 301refunds
    • Export
    • Litigation
    • Section 232 and 301 Tariffs
    • Outsource Your Classification
    • CBP Audits
    • Fines, Penalties, Forfeitures, and Seizures
    • Customs Brokers
    • C-TPAT >
      • Mexico C-TPAT >
        • C-TPAT In English
        • Quienes Somos/About Us
    • Foreign-Trade Zones
    • Antidumping and Countervailing Duties
    • Intellectual Property RIghts
    • Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
    • Manifest Confidentiality
    • Contracts and Incoterms
    • False Claims Act and Whistleblower
  • Blog
  • Resources
    • Newsletter >
      • brokermondernization
    • free online import mini-audit
    • free online export mini-audit
  • Calendar and Events
  • Best Customs Broker Exam Course
  • Contact

Getting CBP To Issue Rulings In Your Favor

11/13/2013

0 Comments

 
Unlike some other federal agencies, CBP makes its rulings available to the public and in searchable format through its online service called CROSS or Customs Rulings Online Search System. That's the upside. The downside is that the majority of the rulings do not provide helpful analysis. Indeed, most provide scant illumination and this lack of logic undermines the value of this online cache, but weirdly allows a lawyer to perform wonders on your behalf.  

Our nation's laws (state and federal) are premised on transparent, readily available precedent. We have so many rules, statutes, and regulations that the people interpreting these look to how other arbiters decided similar fact situations. Of course, similar does not mean duplicate, so rules of thumb are needed (called the General Rules of Interpretation in tariff classification parlance), as is the logic that was previously employed. It is decision-making by analogy. Previous rulings or opinions are consulted not just because they are helpful, but because earlier precedent must be followed to the extent it is applicable. A precedent is given greater influence if a superior authority within the same chain of command hands it down. It is a Byzantine construct that even lawyers and judges can find dizzying, but its organic, malleable nature allows for limited self-correcting to take place. This is where it pays to use a lawyer. Lawyers, if they are worthy of their licenses, appreciate that there are few absolutes, few areas where the law is permanently, indelibly carved in marble.

A competent legal advocate comes in handy when importers request CBP rulings, sometimes even overturning what appeared to be iron-clad precedent. CBP concedes that it makes mistakes by periodically issuing Revocations Letters published in the Customs Bulletin and on CROSS. CBP appreciates that its own rulings shouldn't even be followed. This is not surprising. CBP officials who issue rulings rarely undergo legal training. They may unthinkingly follow shoddy rulings issued by CBP and ignore court cases that go the other way.

The point is don't automatically give up even in the face of CBP rulings that seem to go against your interests. It's possible that CBP's rulings that bar your way are wrong and are mere eggshells awaiting to be pulverized at the feet of your irresistible logic. View all your submissions, not just ruling requests, to the government as opportunities to advocate. You should not expect great results if you are submitting bare bones, cookie cutter requests for binding rulings. Make your arguments compelling from the get-go. Invoke overwhelming legal precedent to support your stance. There is much at stake. Not only should you be trying to avoid classification penalties (CBP reserves the right to issue these whenever an importer misclassifies imported items even when there is no duty loss), but you also trying to limit any import duties that you have to pay. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Oscar Gonzalez

    Principal and a founding member of GRVR Attorneys.

    Archives

    September 2016
    December 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    April 2014
    November 2013
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    September 2011
    July 2011
    May 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010

    Categories

    All
    And Forfeitures
    Bankruptcy
    Border Searches
    Bureau Of Industry And Security
    Classification
    Commodity Jurisdiction
    Compliance
    Country Of Origin
    Court Of International Trade
    C TPAT
    C-TPAT
    Customs Broker Exam
    Customs Brokers
    Export
    Export License
    Export Penalties
    Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
    HTSUS
    Immigration
    Importer Self-Assessment
    Incoterms
    Intellectual Property Rights
    International Sales Contracts
    ITRAC
    Litigation
    NAFTA
    OFAC
    Penalties
    Post-Entry Amendments
    Prior Disclosure
    Redelivery
    Sanctions
    Torts Claims Act

    RSS Feed

Picture
  • Home
  • Who we are
    • Client Dedication
    • Our Legal Team
    • Join Our Team
  • Our Practice
    • Customs and Import
    • 301refunds
    • Export
    • Litigation
    • Section 232 and 301 Tariffs
    • Outsource Your Classification
    • CBP Audits
    • Fines, Penalties, Forfeitures, and Seizures
    • Customs Brokers
    • C-TPAT >
      • Mexico C-TPAT >
        • C-TPAT In English
        • Quienes Somos/About Us
    • Foreign-Trade Zones
    • Antidumping and Countervailing Duties
    • Intellectual Property RIghts
    • Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
    • Manifest Confidentiality
    • Contracts and Incoterms
    • False Claims Act and Whistleblower
  • Blog
  • Resources
    • Newsletter >
      • brokermondernization
    • free online import mini-audit
    • free online export mini-audit
  • Calendar and Events
  • Best Customs Broker Exam Course
  • Contact