Nine different companies filed a total of 18 nearly identical complaints at the Court of International Trade on Jan. 13 contesting the Commerce Department's antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on aluminum extrusions from China. All the cases contest a part of Commerce's final scope decision in the proceedings, which found that the agency had the "legal authority to include within the scope of investigation, and did in fact include, 'inputs' to imported merchandise, as opposed to the actual imported merchandise itself" (Daikin Comfort Technologies Manufacturing v. United States, CIT #s 24-00250, -252).
The Court of International Trade sustained the Commerce Department's use of exporter Kaptan Demir Celik Endustrisi ve Ticaret's invoice date as the date of sale as opposed to the contract date in the 2021-22 review of the antidumping duty order on steel concrete rebar from Turkey. Judge Jane Restani also upheld Commerce's differences-in-merchandise adjustment calculation, which accounted for inflation. The judge said the calculation wasn't "distortive" as Kaptan claimed, and, in fact, could have actually been distortive had it not accounted for inflation.
The Court of International Trade on Jan. 15 sustained the Commerce Department's decision to deny exporters Hyundai Steel Co. and Husteel Co.'s constructed export price offsets in the 2019-20 review of the antidumping duty order on circular welded non-alloy steel pipe from South Korea. Judge Timothy Reif said that Commerce reasonably said a "per-unit analysis" was needed to properly assess whether the home market and CEP sales were made at a more advanced stage of distribution and that neither respondent submitted such an analysis. The judge also said Hyundai received adequate notice of any insufficiencies in its submissions.
International trade attorney Michelle Avrutin has left Schagrin Associates, the firm said in a notice to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Avrutin joined Schagrin in 2020. The firm declined to comment on the reason for her departure.
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
Nebraska resident Byungmin Chae will appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit his second lawsuit challenging his results of the April 2018 customs broker license exam, he said in a notice of appeal. The Court of International Trade dismissed the suit after finding that it was precluded by Chae's first case challenging the test (see 2411130013). Chae is seeking credit for one question on the exam to cross the threshold of 75% correct in order to qualify as a customs broker (Byungmin Chae v. United States, CIT # 24-00086).
CBP reversed its finding that importer Zinus evaded the antidumping duty order on wooden bedroom furniture from China on remand at the Court of International Trade. CBP made the decision after incorporating a scope ruling from the Commerce Department finding that seven models of metal and wood platform beds imported by Zinus aren't covered by the AD order (Zinus v. United States, CIT # 23-00272).
Indian aluminum sheet exporter Hindalco Industries brought a complaint Jan. 10 to the Court of International Trade, saying the Commerce Department wrongly found to be specific programs by which Hindalco had been provided bauxite mining rights and coal and bauxite by the government of India for less-than-adequate remuneration (Hindalco Industries v. United States, CIT # 24-00234).
The Commerce Department engaged in a "fishing expedition" during the 2022 review of the countervailing duty order on phosphate fertilizer from Morocco, seeking information on potential subsidies "without a scintilla of evidence" indicating that any countervailable benefits existed, exporter OCP argued. Filing a complaint at the Court of International Trade on Jan. 13, OCP argued that Commerce went beyond its statutory authority and "should never have investigated potential subsidies based on information provided by OCP" (OCP v. United States, CIT # 24-00227).
Trade attorney Kristen Smith has departed Sandler Travis, the firm said in a notice to the Court of International Trade. Smith worked at Sandler Travis for over 20 years, joining in 2005, most recently as a practice leader and member of the trade remedies practice.