CIT Consolidates Separate Rate Denial Challenges by Chinese Pea Protein Exporters
Court of International Trade Judge Claire Kelly on Jan. 2 granted a motion to consolidate two cases challenging the Commerce Department’s refusal to grant several Chinese pea protein exporters separate rates in an antidumping duty investigation (Yantai Oriental Protein Tech Co. v. United States, CIT # 24-00181, -00179).
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Yantai Oriental Protein Tech led one case (see 2410280019), while Zhaoyuan Junbang Trading Co. led the other (see 2410230049). A third case, also led by Jungbang, wasn't consolidated.
Yantai’s complaint argued Commerce wrongly denied exporter Yantai Zhongzhen Trading Co. a separate AD rate just because, at the time of the review, one of its corporate officers was a member of a local People’s Congress and another was part of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference of Zhaoyuan City (CPPCC). It said neither of those entities was a government agency, so Zhongzhen’s officers weren’t government officials.
Junbang said in its case that it was a publicly traded company and “necessarily” not state-controlled. It also took issue with Commerce’s assignment of adverse facts available to it for China’s Export Buyer’s Credit Program.