The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in the April 29, 2019 decision in Rubies Costume Company v. United States), considered whether the below “Premier Plush 9 Piece Santa Suit” (consisting of a jacket, pants, gloves, a toy sack, a beard, a wig, a hat, a belt, and shoe covers) fell within the tariff provision describing “Articles for Christmas festivities and parts and accessories thereof.”   While the Court acknowledged that the Santa Claus costume is customarily worn in connection with the...

Read more

The US dollar rose against all the major currencies in April, encouraged by renewed economic divergence. The March jobs report in early April and the better than expected Chinese data lift the animal spirits. The S&P 500 gapped higher on April 1 and did not look back on its way to record closing highs. The better tone to the world’s two largest economies failed to be duplicated more broadly. Asia is lagging. South Korea, a regional bellwether, already reported Q1...

Read more

By Floris ten Have | Stibbe The European Court of Justice recently confirmed that a national competition authority can impose a single fine on a company for infringements of both national and EU competition law without violating the principle against double jeopardy. The Court of Justice held that the principle applies to the repetition of proceedings which have previously been concluded by a final decision and not to the situation in which a national competition authority applies national and EU competition rules in...

Read more

Tradewind has announced the closing of a €400,000 accounts receivable facility for an exporter of fresh and frozen fish that is based in Iceland and sells to the UK, Netherlands and North America. The company is using Tradewind’s facility—structured in EUR, GBP, and USD—to capitalize on growth opportunities and enter new markets. In order to help the seafood exporter meet these objectives, Tradewind enlisted a senior leader from its Iceland office to customize a financial solution that addressed the company’s...

Read more

By Andrew Durant | FTI Consulting The results of our recent Brexit survey, Brexit in the Boardroom - Autumn 2018 Update, show that 80% of UK business leaders are fearful of job losses in their company as a result of Brexit. And two thirds (66%) said they were concerned about employees committing fraud due to the lack of job security that Brexit brings. These results do not come as surprise to me after 30 years of investigating fraud. Motive has always...

Read more

By Mark GegoryChief Economist, UK | EY The EY ITEM Club Spring Forecast has cut its GDP growth projections to 1.3% for 2019 (from 1.5% in the EY ITEM Club Winter Forecast) and 1.5% for 2020 (down from 1.7%). Despite likely solid-looking GDP growth in the first quarter of 2019, the downward revision for 2019 primarily reflects the prolonged Brexit uncertainty, following the decision to delay the UK’s exit from the EU to a flexible 31 October deadline. A weaker...

Read more

All shared rides within Evanston will have a $3 flat fare. Via aims to be a first-and-last mile solution, connecting residents and commuters to rail stations without the need for a personal vehicle. “At Via, our goal is to eliminate the need for private car ownership by providing affordable, convenient, and eco-friendly on-demand shared transportation that can seamlessly integrate into existing public transit infrastructure” said Alex Lavoie, US General Manager of Via. Using the Via app, passengers select their pick up and drop...

Read more