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Update from CTDA’s Trade Attorney

Thursday, March 6, 2026 from CTDA

Ceramic Tile Distributors Association

PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL: ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATIONS: CTDA MEMBER UPDATE ON TRADE ISSUES RELEVANT TO THE CERAMIC TILE INDUSTRY

Last night, Judge Richard Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade issued a decision that “all importers of record’’ are “entitled to the benefit’’ from the February 20th Supreme Court ruling. That decision struck down sweeping double-digit import tariffs President Trump imposed last year under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA tariffs”). See Atmus Filtration v. United States, Court No. 26-01259 (March 4, 2026).

These are the key points from the Court order for CTDA importers:

  • Universal Eligibility: Judge Eaton explicitly stated that “all importers of record,” not just those who filed lawsuits, are “entitled to the benefit” of the Supreme Court’s ruling. This applies to all importers. Importers did not need, and do not need to file individual lawsuits.
  • Cessation of Collections: He ordered U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to immediately stop calculating IEEPA duties on importers’ customs paperwork for unliquidated entries.
  • Reliquidate (i.e., reopen for purposes of refunds) all liquidated entries that are not final (i.e., liquidation plus 180 days) without IEEPA duties.

Now the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency must come up with a way to process these refunds. The important thing for CTDA members who are importers is to review all entries subject to the IEEPA tariffs and identify those that have been liquidated.

PLEASE NOTE: These tariffs went into effect in early April of last year; we are now beyond the 314-day period after the filing of the entry summary which CBP ordinarily has to liquidate these early April 2025 entries. You then have 180 days after liquidation to protect your rights for a refund by filing a protest with CBP.

Additionally, yesterday Spain agreed to allow the US to utilize airspace and military bases as necessary and as a result, the US will remove its threat of an embargo on Spanish products.

Should you have any questions regarding this member alert, please contact CTDA Legal Counsel at the following telephone number and email address:

 

Robin Grover
Law Office of Robin W. Grover
Washington, D.C.
Tel. No.: 202-302-1653