Solar Cell Case Holdings to Be Raised in Aluminum Foil Case
Petitioner Aluminum Association Trade Enforcement Working Group told the Court of International Trade on May 20 that it would be making arguments in its aluminum foil case on the basis of the recently decided solar cell cases (see 2505160045, 2505190059 and 2505190054) (Hanon Systems Alabama Corp. v. United States, CIT # 24-00013).
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Aluminum foil importer Hanon Systems brought its case in 2024 arguing that the Commerce Department should have looked at more than two out of five possible factors in making a country of origin determination (see 2408010044). In particular, the agency based a decision that Hanon’s foil came from China, not South Korea, on looking to the value added to the foil by Korean production and the nature of the Korean production process.
In two of the three solar cell cases, the cases involving cells from Thailand and Cambodia, CIT affirmed Commerce’s finding that exporters circumvented antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders on solar cells from China. CIT sent back a case brought by Vietnamese exporters, explaining that Commerce misapplied adverse facts available by assigning it to unexamined respondents in the context of a circumvention investigation.