Shrimp Exporter Challenges Surrogate Value for Land Use in CVD Investigation
Exporter Soc Trang Seafood Joint Stock Co. took to the Court of International Trade on Jan. 24 to challenge the Commerce Department's surrogate value for land rental prices in Vietnam in the countervailing duty investigation on frozen warmwater shrimp from Vietnam (Soc Trang Seafood Joint Stock Co. v. United States, CIT # 25-00030).
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In the investigation, Commerce picked Thailand as a surrogate country, deciding to use a rental rate for a "combination of land and logistical facilities" to calculate a value for only land rental prices in Vietnam. The exporter said the pick "was not predicated on substantial evidence on the record, not reasonably determined, was arbitrary and capricious, and was otherwise not in accordance with law." Evidence on the record shows that land-only rental prices in the Philippines were backed by substantial evidence, the brief said.
The company was assigned a 2.84% CVD rate in the investigation.