Abstract
The United States is the world’s largest importing country, with nearly $2 trillion in imports of goods during 2007. Given the ever- increasing volume of international trade, the United States has put in place an intricate body of laws designed to regulate the flow of goods and has created federal agencies responsible for the enforcement of those laws, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”), the U.S. Department of Commerce (“Commerce”), the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC” or “Commission”), and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”). Each agency is charged with different responsibilities over the fair and efficient administration of the United States’ international trade regime. Certain international trade disputes arise at the agency level, however, which in turn creates a role for the U.S. courts.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”), created in 1982, has exclusive jurisdiction over any “appeal from a final decision of the United States Court of International Trade.” The U.S. Court of International Trade (“CIT”), in turn, has exclusive jurisdiction over numerous types of civil actions arising under the international trade laws including, inter alia, disputes related to the classification and valuation of imported merchandise, Commerce’s and the ITC’s determinations in antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings, and any other action relating to the administration and enforcement of international trade laws. Given the broad range of issues under the CIT’s exclusive jurisdiction, the Federal Circuit is frequently called upon to address a multitude of different legal questions involving international trade issues.
Recommended Citation
Goldfeder, Jarrod. “2008 International Trade Decisions of the Federal Circuit A Review of Recent Decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit: Area Summaries.” American University Law Review 58, no. 4 (February 2009): 947-973.
