The Court of International Trade in a July 8 opinion dismissed importer Rimco's antidumping and countervailing duty challenge after finding that the claims lack subject-matter jurisdiction at the trade court. Judge Mark Barnett said that Rimco's Eighth Amendment claims could not proceed under Section 1581(a) since they are not contesting the liquidation of the steel wheel entries at issue but instead contest the Commerce Department's actions leading up to the high AD/CVD rates. The judge further ruled that Rimco's claims made under Section 1581(i), the court's "residual" jurisdiction, cannot stand since the importer could have requested an administrative review of the AD/CVD orders, clearly showing that other avenues of remedy were available.
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The Commerce Department erred by not including exporter Echjay Forgings Pvt. Ltd. in the all-others rate in the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on stainless steel flanges from India, covering entries in 2019-2020, Echjay argued in a July 8 complaint at the Court of International Trade (Echjay Forgings Pvt. Ltd. v. United States, CIT #22-00172).
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan granted the U.S.'s motion to toss a six-count case brought by CBD and hemp manufacturer ASHH over the seizure and detention of lithium-ion batteries, classified by CBP as "drug paraphernalia." Judge Robert Cleland held that the plaintiff had other remedies at law via the administrative process and that CBP's seizures are not final agency action (ASHH v. U.S., E.D. Mich. #21-11210).
The Commerce Department's admission that the administrative case brief in an antidumping duty matter wasn't the right time to bring up arguments over verification procedures reveals the futility of raising verification concerns administratively, plaintiffs led by Ellwood City Forge argued to fight off claims that it failed to exhaust its administrative remedies. Submitting a notice of supplemental authority at the Court of International Trade, Ellwood said Commerce's remand results in a separate AD case declaring that 63 days was "far too late" to pursue a request for virtual verification in lieu of on-site verification due to COVID-19 restrictions indicates that raising the issue of virtual verification in the petitioner's case was futile (Ellwood City Forge Company v. U.S., CIT #21-00077).
The Commerce Department verified that countervailing duty respondent Both-Well (Taizhou) Steel Fittings Co. and its U.S. customers did not benefit from China's Export Buyer's Credit Program (EBCP), in remand results submitted to the Court of International Trade on July 8. However, Commerce said that it still believes that the use of adverse facts available over the program is warranted since the Chinese government did not provide the requested information supposedly needed for a full analysis of whether the respondent and its U.S. customers benefitted from the EBCP (Both-Well (Taizhou) Steel Fittings Co. v. United States, CIT Consol. #21-00166).
The U.S.'s rationale for its motion to stay in an Enforce and Protect Act case at the Court of International Trade is "remarkable," and essentially concedes that CBP cannot back its evasion finding, plaintiffs Norca Industrial Co. and International Piping & Procurement Group (IPPG) said in a July 6 brief opposing the stay. The stay motion wants to halt proceedings at CIT so a covered merchandise referral can be issued to the Commerce Department, but the plaintiffs said that such a referral is not possible, the case has been narrowed to record issues and the move signals a concession on the facts (Norca Industrial Company v. United States, CIT Consol. #21-00192).
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The Commerce Department's finding that the South Korean government provided a countervailable subsidy via the provision of carbon emission permits to exporter Hyundai Steel violates the law, Hyundai argued in a July 5 complaint at the Court of International Trade. Since the requirement to buy carbon emission permits places a cost on the company, and the Korean government didn't forgo revenue by providing an additional permit allocation to Hyundai, the provision of the permits doesn't constitute a countervailable benefit, the complaint said (Hyundai Steel v. U.S., CIT #22-00170).
The Commerce Department erred by selecting Brazil as the primary surrogate country in an antidumping duty review then using log input data from Malaysia, exporter Jiangsu Senmao Bamboo and Wood Industry Co. said in a July 7 complaint at the Court of International Trade. Senmao also contested Commerce's decision to deny the exporter a byproduct offset, revise the Brazilian surrogate value data for plywood and select Brazil as the primary surrogate while rejecting its log data, adjusting the plywood data and revising the financial ratios (Jiangsu Senmoa Bamboo and Wood Industry Co. v. United States, CIT #22-00190).