US Asks CIT for Voluntary Remand to Assess AFA on China's EBCP in CVD Review
The U.S. asked the Court of International Trade on Sept. 29 for a voluntary remand in a case on the 2022 administrative review of the countervailing duty order on wooden cabinets and vanities from China regarding the use of adverse facts available relating to China's Export Buyer's Credit Program. The government said the Commerce Department's decision to use AFA on sales made by the respondent to U.S. customers who verified they didn't use the EBCP is inconsistent with the trade court's prior rulings on the program, which have bucked the use of AFA for U.S. buyers who have provided such verification (The Ancientree Cabinet Co. v. United States, CIT # 24-00223).
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In the present review, respondent The Ancientree Cabinet Co. urged Commerce not to use AFA for its alleged use of the EBCP, and, in the alternative, argued that the agency should proportion the use of AFA to account for the fact that around 61.5% of its customers by sales value verified they didn't use the program. The agency continued to use total AFA for this program, finding that the respondent didn't verify non-use for all of its customers.
The U.S. asked for a remand in light of the trade court's decisions on this issue in which the court rejected the use of AFA for customers that verified they didn't use the EBCP (see 2507110061). The government said Commerce's "determination of benefit with respect to customers that completed supplemental questionnaires is at odds" with these CIT decisions.