Xerox Corporation v. United States

The 1933 Buy American Act established a preference for domestic products in government procurement. The Trade Agreements Act of 1979 (TAA) changed how the BAA worked by extending preferential treatment to the products of certain countries that extended similar favorable treatment to U.S. products. These countries were known as designated foreign countries or instrumentalities (DFCIs). Under the TAA, a product was held to be from a DFCI if it was either wholly grown or manufactured in a DFCI or otherwise substantially transformed into a new and different article of commerce within a DFCI. Further, § 305(b)(1) of the TAA established a process by which companies could seek a determination from United States Customs and Border Protection (customs) (defendant) of whether a product came from a DFCI. Additionally, customs’ regulations required it to issue determinations of the country of origin of those products. Nukote International (Nukote) sought a determination of the country of origin of its refurbished printer cartridges. Customs ruled that the cartridges were not substantially transformed in the United States, but it did not identify the country of origin of the cartridges or whether they came from a DFCI. Xerox Corporation (Xerox) sued customs, seeking a determination from the Court of International Trade that Nukote’s cartridges were sufficiently transformed in the United States and therefore a product of the United States for government-procurement purposes. Customs filed a motion to dismiss.