Chinese Metal Locker Exporter Challenges AFA in Countervailing Duty Review
Chinese metal locker exporter Hangzhou Evernew Machinery & Equipment brought an Aug. 13 complaint to the trade court contesting the adverse facts available rate it received in a countervailing duty review for providing inconsistent financial statements (Hangzhou Evernew Machinery & Equipment Company v. United States, CIT # 25-00151).
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In the review, the Commerce Department asked Evernew for either its audited financial statements or unaudited statements with accompanying notes, and Evernew said it “submitted all the requested information from Commerce as accurately as possible by responding to every single questionnaire and request.”
Evernew said Commerce claimed its responses were inconsistent “based on accounting standards and tax return requirements in China,” but that this was unsupported by substantial evidence. The exporter also noted that Commerce has found in the past that unaudited statements “do not themselves challenge the credibility of all data nor warrant an AFA rate."
Evernew's responses didn’t impact the proceeding, the exporter said. Commerce requested the statements in its initial questionnaire, then didn’t repeat the request in any supplemental questionnaires, showing that its use of AFA was “flawed significantly,” it said.