Ford Revives Appeals Fight on Transit Connect Van Import Duties (1)

Ford Motor Co. isn’t giving up after a federal appeals court rejected its challenge to a tenfold increase in duties on imports of vans made in Turkey.

Petitions for reconsideration, such as the one filed by Ford, are rarely granted. But Lawrence Friedman, a trade lawyer and partner at Barnes, Richardson & Colburn LLP in Chicago, said the opinion merits reconsideration because it complicates classification of imports, and uncertainty about that creates concern for businesses about increased costs.

The case centers on “tariff engineering,” a process by which foreign manufacturers and U.S. importers try to legally get around hefty U.S. ...