Indian exporter Chandan Steel told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on June 4 that the 145% total adverse facts available antidumping duty rate it received wasn’t justified by a reporting error that affected only 0.4% of its U.S. sales (Chandan Steel v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 25-1291).
Canadian exporter Inferfor brought a June 11 complaint to the Court of International Trade arguing CBP had wrongly ended the suspension of liquidation on its entries during antidumping duty and countervailing duty reviews on softwood lumber from Canada (Interfor Sales & Marketing v. United States, CIT # 25-00105).
Importer Monarch Metals told the Court of International Trade that its stainless steel wire imports are products of Japan and not China, meaning its goods were improperly subjected to Section 301 and Section 232 tariffs. In a complaint filed June 13, Monarch Metals said that under CBP's prior application of the substantial transformation test to steel wire, no substantial transformation occurs by drawing steel rod into steel wire (Monarch Metals v. United States, CIT # 24-00266).
Plaintiffs in the case challenging tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit proposed a briefing schedule that would end briefing on the same date as briefing is set to conclude in the IEEPA tariff case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The U.S. opposed the proposed schedule, urging the court to accept the schedule previously agreed to by the parties, which would end briefing on Aug. 8 (Learning Resources v. Trump, D.C. Cir. # 25-5202).
The Court of International Trade on June 12 sustained the Commerce Department's decision to prorate the countervailing duty set for exporter The Ancientree Cabinet Co. in the CVD investigation on wooden cabinets and vanities from China to account for the percentage of its U.S. customers that failed to verify non-use of China's Export Buyer's Credit Program. Judge Richard Eaton said Commerce's approach is supported by substantial evidence and is superior to using total adverse facts available against Ancientree due to the Chinese government's failure to supply information about the EBCP.
The Court of International Trade on June 16 held that the Commerce Department's regulations setting deadlines to file separate rate applications and certifications can't supersede the statutory requirement to pick mandatory respondents based on the volume of their exports. Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves said Commerce erred in the 2021-22 review of the antidumping duty order on steel racks from China by picking respondents based on value and not volume of U.S. sales and in declining to consider the largest exporter, Nanjing Dongsheng Shelf Manufacturing, based on its untimely separate rate certification. The judge said Dongsheng's information was "reasonably available" to the agency, since it was filed the same time as the information from other respondents who received filing extensions.
Stephen Vaden, current judge on the Court of International Trade, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as deputy secretary of agriculture. The Senate confirmed Vaden with a 51-44 vote split exactly down party lines. Five senators -- Ted Budd, R-N.C., Jon Ossoff, R-Ga., Thom Tillis R-N.C., Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., -- didn't take part in the vote.
The following lawsuits were filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
Importer American Eel Depot severed various entries from two of its cases at the Court of International Trade contesting the imposition of Section 301 duties on its frozen roasted eel entries (see 2106110061). American Eel brought its cases in 2021 to challenge CBP's denial of its protests claiming its eel imports originate in Europe and thus shouldn't be subject to the Section 301 tariffs on China. In one case, American Eel severed one entry from the case, and in another, it severed 22 entries from the case. In the first case, only one entry remains challenged by the importer, while 16 remain challenged in the second case. The company said it determined the entries shouldn't be included in the cases upon "further review." Counsel for the importer declined to comment (American Eel Depot v. United States, CIT #s 21-00278, -00279).
The U.S. and defendant-intervenors led by Archer Daniels Midland each argued June 10 that Loper Bright doesn’t impact the Commerce Department’s discretion in deciding to use a mandatory review respondent’s annual conversion costs and quarterly direct material costs (Citribel v. United States, CIT # 24-00010).