SORKIN LOSES BATTLE TO SAVE CHINESE SHIPMENT FROM SEIZURE BY US CUSTOMS
WAYNE, PA -- When the US Customs Bureau seizes merchandise, it's not just drug dealers and terrorists who suffer.
For the past 20 months, Jerry Sorkin, owner of Distinctive Rugs & More, the suburban Philadelphia retailer, has fought a losing battle to take delivery on a shipment of rugs and antique cabinets he purchased in China in 2003.
Why? It appears he chose the wrong shipping agent. While Sorkin's merchandise was on the high seas, the US government imposed sanctions on his shipper, Norinco, for allegedly assisting Iran in its nuclear weapons program.
This is not a happy-ending story.
"On Wednesday, Jan. 26th, I heard from U.S.Senator Arlen Specter's office. They had received word from U.S. Customs that the contents of my container from China had been liquidated. Needless to say, these were words that I had hoped I would not ever hear," said Sorkin.
The U.S. Bureau of Customs & Border Protection confirmed that Sorkin's shipment - Lot No. 404 - was sold "for export only" by the auction contractor EG&G Technical Services in Edison, N.J. After Sorkin had purchased the merchandise for over $30,000 and spent another $30,000 in lawyer's fees, the winning auction bid amounted to $2,300.
Sorkin's fight began in July, 2003 when he learned that his merchandise had been seized. "Since then, I was always optimistic that someone in Washington would rectify the situation. Numerous people in Washington would tell me 'off the record' that they were aware that I had been caught in a bureaucratic quagmire and that I should just keep fighting," said Sorkin. "In some cases, people would tell me that they were rooting for me, but unfortunately, they did not make policy, they simply had to enforce it. "
The fact that the process stayed alive for nearly two years provided Sorkin with a little bit of optimism. He kept pushing. "There is also an important principal at stake in standing up for one's rights," he stressed.
It has been an extremely costly fight.
"With costs relating to this situation having exceeded $60,000 and tens of thousands of additional dollars in indirect costs, it would be conservative to say that the losses from this quagmire exceed $100,000," said Sorkin. (Commercial insurance excludes seizures due to government action.)
On Saturday, Jan. 29, Sorkin's plight was featured in an article entitled "Of Arms and Antiques" in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Staff writer Thomas Ginsberg explained how Sorkin got caught on the wrong side of anti-terrorist laws:
Sorkin's saga began on May 12, 2003, when a 40-foot container was loaded on a freighter in China packed with the hand-made rugs and antique furniture Sorkin had purchased in cash from small dealers throughout China.
The shipper he chose was China North Industries Corp., also known as Norinco, a company that has been used by other U.S. companies for shipping and other work. U.S. officials say Norinco is tied to the Chinese military.
Eleven days later, while his container was at sea, the Bush administration imposed sanctions on Norinco for allegedly assisting Iran in its nuclear weapons programs. Norinco has denied the allegations. It had been penalized previously but had not been barred from doing business in the United States.
The May 23 sanctions were retroactive to May 9 and lacked the usual grace period for items in transit.
The container arrived in New York on June 12 and was shipped by rail to Philadelphia. There, Customs inspectors seized it and told Sorkin he could re-export the items or have them destroyed. His insurance did not cover losses from government seizures.
Sorkin initially was not alone. At least one other company confirmed that its items were seized but later apparently decided to re-export them, at a loss.
A State Department official in the arms control bureau ...said Sorkin was the only importer who declined to re-export his goods.
"I had no place to send them," Sorkin said, explaining he had already paid for the items, unlike the usual practice of paying only upon receipt. "Besides, I had not done anything wrong."
So began a campaign to liberate the antiques. Sorkin said he wrote at least five detailed letters to President Bush, sent many more to senior State Department officials, and left countless messages on government voicemails. Last summer, Sen. Arlen Specter and Rep. Curt Weldon managed to block the first planned auction of his goods but failed to get them back."
Sorkin remains convinced that right is on his side.
"When the sanctions were announced and put in force retroactively, the administration said that the intent was to punish those firms proliferating in weapons of mass destruction. Clearly, things have gone terribly astray," he said.
Meanwhile, Ginsberg's article reported that the Bush administration has now barred Norinco and seven other companies from doing any business with the U.S. government, for allegedly continuing to help Iran's missile program.
Although he has been personally and economically injured by the ordeal, Sorkin said he believes sanctions are effective tools against international terrorism.
"I'm totally in favor of the use of sanctions. History shows that they can work," Sorkin told the Inquirer's Ginsberg. "But we don't know how much impact they've actually had on stopping proliferation. What we do know is that there was no intention to hurt innocent American businesses. And that's what has happened."
Sorkin has also managed to maintain a sense of balance in the face of the ordeal. "To say this has not been a painful experience, particularly during these economically troubled times, would be an understatement. But we all know that there are others in the world with truly insurmountable problems," he said. "Thanks go to both Pennsylvania's U.S. Senator Arlen Specter and U.S. Congressman Curt Weldon, whose offices were most supportive on my behalf. They deserve special credit for their efforts. "
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