CBP was well within its rights to reverse its finding that an importer evaded antidumping duties on frozen warmwater shrimp from India, both the defendant-intervenors, Minh Phu Seafood Joint Stock Co. and MSeafood Corp., and the Department of Justice told the Court of International Trade in a pair of reply briefs. Responding to a motion for judgment from the Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade and Enforcement Committee, both briefs also argued that the petitioner group had no right to the business confidential information in the investigation, calling AHSTEC's arguments "borderline irresponsible" (Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Enforcement Committee v. United States, CIT #21-00129).
Court of International Trade activity
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The Commerce Department found that two companies' door thresholds qualify for the finished merchandise exclusion to the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on aluminum extrusions from China, in a pair of remand results at the Court of International Trade, reversing its position on the issue under protest. The remand results came after a court opinion that did not agree with Commerce's original holding that the door thresholds from Worldwide Door Components and Columbia Aluminum Products were subassemblies that required further incorporation into a larger downstream product (Worldwide Door Components, Inc. v. United States, CIT #19-00012) (Columbia Aluminum Products, LLC v. United States, CIT # 19-00013).
The Commerce Department said that two countervailing duty respondents did not use China's Export Buyer's Credit Program, in Dec. 13 remand results, flipping its position on the issue. The agency also granted one of the respondents, Canadian Solar, an entered value adjustment in response to remand instructions from the Court of International Trade that spurned the agency's decision to not make the adjustment. If sustained, the result would be a CVD rate cut for the respondents and non-selected companies (Canadian Solar Inc., et al. v. United States, CIT Consol. #19-00178).
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The U.S.Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found building materials company Bruskin International's opening and reply briefs to not be in compliance with the court's rules, the appellate court said in a Dec. 10 notice. The paper copies of the briefs were not printed single-sided, contrary to court rules. The court does permit, though, the double-sided printing of appendices. Further, the paper copies of the reply brief had an incorrect yellow cover since the cover of the appellant's reply brief must be gray, the notice said (M S International, Inc. v. United States, Fed. Cir. #21-1679).
The refunds issued to parties that challenged President Donald Trump's Section 232 steel and aluminum tariff hike on Turkish steel are either back in the government's hands or on their way, the litigants told the Court of International Trade in a joint status report (Transpacific Steel LLC, et al. v. United States, CIT #19-00009).
The Commerce Department cannot redefine price adjustments in less-than-fair-value investigations to "disaggregate" the value actually agreed to by the buyer and the seller, defendant-appellant LDC Argentina told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a Dec. 7 reply brief. Commerce did just that, though, when it made a price adjustment for renewable identification numbers (RINs) -- credits used for compliance with the EPA's Renewable Fuel Standard Program (Vicentin S.A.I.C., et al. v. United States, Fed. Cir. #21-1988).
The Court of International Trade set a date -- March 22, 2022 -- for in-person oral argument date to discuss importer Crown Cork & Seal's motion to dismiss the first two counts of a customs fraud case brought by the Department of Justice. DOJ launched its case following a 10-year investigation, seeking more than $18 million over misclassified metal vacuum closures, alleging fraud, gross negligence and negligence. CCS moved to dismiss these first two counts, holding that the U.S. only has the facts to support a claim of negligence (The United States v. Crown Cork & Seal, USA, Inc. et al., CIT #21-361).
The Commerce Department must either further explain or reconsider its decision to adjust the steel plate costs for all reported control numbers in an antidumping duty investigation into wind towers, the Court of International Trade said in a Dec. 13 ruling. The agency must do so since it failed to group the CONNUMs by any of the established 11 physical characteristics used to differentiate the products or otherwise use the characteristics as a "guidepost," Judge Leo Gordon said.