Cabinet Importers Say Loper the Correct Standard for Interpreting Circumvention Law
Wooden cabinet importers led by Cabinetworks Group argued June 27 that the U.S. hadn’t acknowledged the impact of Loper Bright on the Commerce Department’s ability to conduct circumvention determinations -- Congress didn’t “delegate unfettered authority to Commerce,” they said (ACProducts v. United States, CIT #s 24-00155, -00156).
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In their reply brief, they again attacked Commerce’s interpretation of 19 U.S.C. 1677(b)(1) and 19 C.F.R. 351.225 (see 2502270062), saying that the government and defendant-intervenor American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance erred in citing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit case Fujitsu General v. United States to argue deference to Commerce’s interpretation of its regulations had survived Loper.
“Commerce’s statutory interpretations under this circumvention statute is not binding,” they said. “The Court owes no deference to Commerce’s interpretations under this statute.”
They also again argued that the department had unlawfully opened a scope ruling to consider a “hypothetical” production scenario.
19 C.F.R. 351.225 repeatedly instructs Commerce to initiate scope inquiries on “a particular product,” they said. It also requires that scope ruling applications include “a detailed description of the product.” But American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance’s scope application didn’t meet either threshold, they claimed.
They said the antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders on wooden cabinets from China “unambiguously” apply to only cabinets and frames and five other components. The orders never mention “semifinished components,” they said, but the government held that they were circumventing the orders by importing semifinished cabinet components.
The U.S. defined “semifinished components” as components for which “certain production processes occur in China, and others in the third country,” the importers said.