BMW LOSES FOREIGN TRADE ZONE APPEAL
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has upheld a lower court decision that U.S. Customs had correctly assessed the Harbor Maintenance Tax on BMW cars and automobile parts shipped to a U.S. port’s foreign trade zone.
BMW Manufacturing Corp. paid the tax, and then sued the U.S. government for recovery of its payment. In denying recovery, “the court held that the HMT was not a customs duty. It noted that Congress created specific HMT exemptions, and that deliveries to a foreign trade zone were not among them,” said Dennis Bryant, an attorney with Holland & Knight in Washington, D.C.
The appeals court ruled that the HMT was a generalized federal charge for the use of certain harbors. Since BMW shipped its cars through one of those harbors, the HMT had been properly assessed.