A recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit opinion, Mid Continent Steel & Wire v. U.S., supports a group of mattress exporters' Court of International Trade case contesting an antidumping duty investigation on mattresses from Vietnam, the exporters said in an April 25 notice of supplemental authority. In Mid Continent, the Federal Circuit remanded the Commerce Department's decision to use a simple average to calculate the pooled standard deviation when using the Cohen's d test in its differential pricing analysis to target "masked dumping" (see 2204210031). The mattress exporters, led by Ashley Furniture Industries, seek to piggyback on this decision, arguing that it confirms their position that "the use of simple-average standard deviation rather than weighted-average or population standard deviation represents an unreasonable departure from the original intent of the developers of the Cohen’s d formula" (Ashley Furniture Industries v. United States, CIT #21-00283).
Court of International Trade Judge Timothy Reif denied a motion by importer Cozy Comfort for a conference to consider court-annexed mediation. In an April 26 opposition motion, the government argued that mediation would be inappropriate because there are still facts at issue and that mediation will likely be ineffective as long as the government is opposed. Reif agreed but said Cozy Comfort may renew its motion after discovery has been completed.
The Commerce Department continued to deny two groups of plaintiffs in an antidumping case -- led by Guizhou Tyre Co. and Double Coin Holdings -- separate rate status, finding on remand ordered by the Court of International Trade that the companies still failed to rebut the presumption of Chinese government control. Commerce said that Guizhou Tyre and Double Coin are not free from government control regarding how they pick their management and thus are under government control for the purposes of the antidumping duty investigation on truck and bus tires from China (Guizhou Tyre Co. v. United States, CIT #19-00031).
A good faith disagreement over the scope of antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders cannot be construed as a "material and false statement," needed to find evasion under the Enforce and Protect Act, importers Ikadan System USA and Weihai Gaosai Metal Product Co. argued in an April 26 brief at the Court of International Trade. As such, CBP's evasion finding is illegal, as it fails to make a proper finding of evasion, the brief said (Ikadan System USA v. United States, CIT #21-00592).
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The Court of International Trade granted relief to the U.S. from its responsibility to file a reply brief and an administrative record in response to importer AA Metals' claims under Section 1581(i), the Court of International Trade's "residual" jurisdiction. Both sides agreed that jurisdiction under AA Metals' scope challenge fits under Section 1581(c). The U.S.'s April 25 consent motion asks to drop the Section 1581(i) claims (AA Metals v. U.S., CIT #21-00051).
The Commerce Department submitted an amended remand submission to the Court of International Trade removing "extraneous legal argument" as instructed by the court. The remand results, originally submitted in January, excluded exporter Saha Thai Steel Pipe Public Co.'s dual-stenciled pipe from the scope of the antidumping duty order on circular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes from Thailand. The court said that Commerce was wrong to include Saha Thai's products in the scope of the order since there was no International Trade Commission injury determination on line pipe from Thailand (see 2110070029) (Saha Thai Steel Pipe Public Company v. United States, CIT #20-00133).
The U.S.'s opposition to a rehearing motion from a Chinese aluminum extrusion exporter and its affiliates over their alternative arguments in a countervailing duty case falls flat, the company and its affiliates said in an April 25 reply brief at the Court of International Trade (Taizhou United Imp. & Exp. Co. v. United States, CIT Consol. #16-00009). DOJ argued against the rehearing bid, claiming that the alternative claims were waived since they were not brought up during remand. The plaintiff-intervenors, all associated with Jangho Group, replied that the court said it would address a separate issue first, then move to the alternate claims. The court's failure to do so warrants a rehearing, the brief said.
The Court of International Trade remanded parts and sustained parts of the Commerce Department's administrative review of the antidumping duty order on frozen fish fillets from Vietnam in a confidential April 25 opinion. In a public order, Judge M. Miller Baker remanded the case to Commerce to explain whether Indonesia is economically comparable to Vietnam using data the agency previously used, reconsider its finding that Indian data is superior to Indonesian data for valuating certain factors of production, address evidence submitted by plaintiff Catfish Farmers of America over the ratio of whole live fish to fillets, and discuss the evidence relating to moisture content.
The Commerce Department properly modified the scope of its antidumping duty and countervailing duty investigations on quartz surface products from China in response to evidence of evasion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in an April 25 opinion. Building materials company Bruskin International argued against Commerce's decision to accept the petitioner's scope request, telling the court the agency should have treated it as a request to amend the petition. But Judges Todd Hughes, Haldane Mayer and Kara Stoll ruled that Commerce was not bound to the preliminary scope and that it properly found the scope to be defective due to evidence of evasion.