The Commerce Department and exporter Teh Fong Min (TMF) International Co. said on July 26 that it will appeal a May Court of International Trade decision finding that the agency erred in revoking the antidumping duty orders on stilbenic optical brightening agents from Taiwan and China after it didn't receive a timely notice of intent to participate in the order's sunset reviews from a domestic producer (see 2405290050). The trade court told the agency to conduct the full sunset reviews because U.S. manufacturer Archroma U.S. filed substantive responses to the agency's notice of initiation of the sunset reviews. According to its notice of appeal, Commerce will take the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Archroma U.S. v. U.S., CIT # 22-00354).
Court of International Trade
The United States Court of International Trade is a federal court which has national jurisdiction over civil actions regarding the customs and international trade laws of the United States. The Court was established under Article III of the Constitution by the Customs Courts Act of 1980. The Court consists of nine judges appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate and is located in New York City. The Court has jurisdiction throughout the United States and has exclusive jurisdictional authority to decide civil action pertaining to international trade against the United States or entities representing the United States.
Opposing the Commerce Department’s second remand redetermination regarding Spanish utility-scale wind towers (see 2406250029), a wind tower trade coalition argued July 23 that part of an investigation’s collapsed mandatory respondent is only a holding company, and so shouldn’t be allowed to participate in the review (Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy v. U.S., CIT # 21-00449).
The Court of International Trade on July 30 sustained the Commerce Department's first review of the antidumping duty order on glycine from Japan. Judge Stephen Vaden said Commerce appropriately decided on remand to remove exporter Nagase's compensation for payment expenses from the company's general and administrative expense ratio. Vaden also ruled that Nagase failed to exhaust its administrative remedies regarding its request that Commerce reconsider the assessment rate.
The Court of International Trade on July 26 sent back the Commerce Department's consideration of alternative time periods in using the Cohen's d test to detect "masked" dumping in the 2020-21 review of the antidumping duty order on circular welded carbon-quality steel pipe from the United Arab Emirates.
Chinese cartridge exporter Ninestar Corp. told the Court of International Trade in a July 26 reply brief that it's not attempting to "exhaust its remedies" before the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force by requesting removal from the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List. Responding to the government's bid to dismiss the case, Ninestar said it's merely asking FLETF to "take a new agency action, based on a different legal standard and a different evidentiary record" (Ninestar Corp. v. United States, CIT # 23-00182).
In the wake of Loper Bright, the U.S. and two defendant-intervenors raised three different sets of arguments July 25 in defense of the Commerce Department’s interpretation of the statute governing sunset reviews. All three opposed a plaintiff softwood lumber exporter’s claim that its case had been substantially strengthened by the demise of the Chevron doctrine (Resolute FP Canada v. U.S., CIT # 23-00095).
The Court of International Trade in a July 17 decision made public July 25 sent back the Commerce Department's use of exporter Prochamp's German sales as the comparison market in an antidumping duty investigation. Judge M. Miller Baker said that since the agency didn't know what percentage of the company's German sales were actually for consumption in Germany, Commerce's use of the comparison market was unsupported.
The Court of International Trade denied Seko Customs Brokerage's bids for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against its temporary suspension from the Entry Type 86 Test and Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism programs. Judge Claire Kelly found Seko already received all the relief it sought when it was conditionally reinstated into the programs and told why it was originally suspended.
The Court of International Trade on July 29 sustained the Commerce Department's 2019-20 review of the antidumping duty order on xanthan gum from China. Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves said on remand that Commerce properly slashed exporter Meihua Group International Trading (Hong Kong) Limited's AD margin to zero percent from a 154.07% adverse facts available rate. The judge also sustained the agency's collapsing analysis, which said Deosen Biochemical shouldn't be collapsed with Deosen Biochemcial (Ordos) since Deosen Biochemical made no shipments during the review period. As a result, Deosen Biochemical's review under the AD order was rescinded.
The Court of International Trade on July 26 remanded the Commerce Department's 2020-21 review of the antidumping duty order on circular welded carbon-quality steel pipe from the United Arab Emirates. After finding that exporters led by respondent Universal Tube and Plastic Industries didn't fail to exhaust their administrative remedies regarding arguments on Commerce's consideration of alternative time periods in the Cohen's d test, Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves remanded the agency's consideration of the time periods in the d test, which is used to detect "masked" dumping.