The Commerce Department reasonably found that antidumping respondents Aelous Tyre and Guizhou Tyre Co. were de facto controlled by the Chinese government, the Department of Justice said in a Jan. 24 reply brief submitted at the Court of International Trade. Aeolus and GTC argued that in cases where the Chinese government is found to only own a minority of a company, Commerce cannot just rely on only one fact of the de facto control analysis. DOJ countered by saying that the plaintiffs mischaracterize Commerce' separate rate evaluations and that all factors were considered in establishing that the pair failed to rebut the presumption of government control (Guizhou Tyre Co. v. United States, CIT Consol. #17-00100).
OCP North America, the U.S. subsidiary of a Moroccan fertilizer exporter, penned a letter to U.S. farmers urging their support of the company's court case against the countervailing duty order on phosphate fertilizer from Morocco. The letter, sent through public relations firm Cogent Strategies, linked to a website also established by Cogent to serve as a platform for farmers to express their dissatisfaction with the order. The case the letter references is at the Court of International Trade and is challenging the International Trade Commission's injury determination that led to the imposition of the CVD order.
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
Antidumping duty respondent Goodluck India Limited filed a complaint at the Court of International Trade to contest the Commerce Department's assessment of antidumping duties on its entries since they were not subject to the ADD order at the time, the company said. Goodluck participated in the antidumping duty investigation into cold-drawn mechanical tubing of carbon and alloy steel from India in which it was assigned a 33.7% cash deposit rate. The respondent then challenged this decision at CIT, which eventually overturned Commerce, affirming a final zero percent margin for Goodluck. The result was Commerce revoking the ADD order for Goodluck (Goodluck India Limited v. United States, CIT #22-00024).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit should deny defendant-appellant Wheatland Tube Company's bid to stay proceedings in an antidumping duty case related to use of a particular market situation adjustment to the sales-below-cost test when determining normal value, because the appeals court is unlikely to overturn its own ruling against the judgment in a separate case Wheatland points to as the reason for the stay, plaintiff-appellees Husteel Co. and Hyundai Steel Company said in a Jan. 28 brief (Husteel Co., Ltd. v. United States, Fed. Cir. #22-1300).
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit should uphold a lower court decision that found that CBP's "indirect method" for weighing importer New Image Global's tobacco wraps that included the weight of additives was legally and scientifically valid, the Department of Justice said in a Jan. 27 brief. Replying to New Image's arguments to the contrary, DOJ said that CBP properly interpreted the excise tax statute to include anything added to the tobacco wraps in the weight of the wraps (New Image Global v. United States, Fed. Cir. #19-2444).
The Commerce Department can use adverse facts available over the Chinese government's failure to provide information on its electricity price-setting practices in a countervailing duty review, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a Jan. 28 opinion. Upholding a decision from the Court of International Trade, the Federal Circuit affirmed Commerce's CV duties for the provision of electricity for less than adequate remuneration (LTAR) after the Chinese government failed to explain price variations across different provinces.
CBP doesn't need to establish intent to defraud the U.S. in order to find an importer evaded antidumping and countervailing duties under the Enforce and Protect Act statute, CBP told the Court of International Trade in its Jan. 27 remand results. Continuing to find that Diamond Tools Technology (DTT) evaded the ADD/CVD order on diamond sawblades from China, CBP said that it only needs to show that DTT submitted false statements to prove evasion. This is in line with the purpose of the law, CBP said, since the purpose is to merely collect AD/CV duties owed to the U.S. (Diamond Tools Technology v. U.S., CIT #20-00060)
The European Union launched a case at the World Trade Organization over China's allegedly discriminatory practices against Lithuania, which the EU claims are also affecting other exporters from the European trading bloc, the European Commission said. China's restrictions on Lithuania stem from the country's support for Taiwan. In November 2020, Lithuania's ruling coalition agreed to support "those fighting for freedom" in Taiwan. China's response included a refusal to clear goods from Lithuania through customs, rejection of Lithuanian import applications and a campaign to get non-Lithuanian EU companies to remove Lithuanian inputs from their supply chains when sending goods to China (see 2112090012). While the commission also implemented a proposal for an anti-coercion instrument to help respond to China's restrictive measures, it has now also requested consultations with China at the WTO over the restrictions.