Qui tam plaintiff Island Industries, Inc. (“Island”) filed suit under the FCA against Sigma Corporation (“Sigma”), a pipe fitting manufacturer and Island competitor, alleging that Sigma made two types of false statements on customs forms to evade antidumping[2] duties that applied to welded outlets.
Island alleged that Sigma declared on customs forms that products it was importing were not subject to antidumping duties and that it described the products as steel couplings even though they were marketed as welded outlets. The welded outlets, Island asserted, were subject to an antidumping duty order that covered certain pipe fittings imported from China. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Island, finding Sigma liable for violating the FCA and determining that it owed over $8 million (before trebling). The district court denied Sigma’s subsequent post-trial motion for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial.
In affirming the district court, the Ninth Circuit rejected Sigma’s contention that 19 U.S.C. § 1592, which provides a specific mechanism for the United States to recover fraudulently avoided customs duties, displaces the FCA. Rather, the court found that § 1592 overlaps with the FCA— which reaches antidumping duties that an importer fraudulently evades paying.
To support the conclusion that there is no irreconcilable conflict between the statutes, the court reasoned that § 1592 does not state that it is an exclusive remedy. In addition, the FCA expressly...
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