The Court of International Trade in a June 13 decision made public July 8 sustained CBP's finding that Dominican exporter Kingtom Aluminio didn't evade the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on aluminum extrusions from China. Judge Richard Eaton said CBP properly decided to forego the use of adverse facts available against Kingtom because the company fully responded to all the agency's requests for information. The judge also said CBP appropriately found that Kingtom's ties to China and data discrepancies don't amount to a positive evasion finding.
The International Trade Commission told the Court of International Trade on July 3 that it fully responded to the court's instructions when it reconsidered the data it relied on when measuring in-scope imports from Germany and Mexico, despite claims to the contrary from Russian pipe exporter PAO TMK (PAO TMK v. U.S., CIT # 21-00532).
The Commerce Department was right to consider the assembly of hardwood plywood in Vietnam “minor and insignificant” when it reached an affirmative circumvention ruling for 20 Vietnamese exporters, the U.S. said July 2 in response to importers’ and exporters’ multiple motions for judgment (see 2404020054) and 2402020054) (Shelter Forest International Acquisition v. U.S., CIT Consol. # 23-00144).
Antidumping duty petitioner Ventura Coastal invoked the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Loper Bright v. Raimondo -- which overturned the principle of Chevron deference -- to claim that the Court of International Trade doesn't need to adhere to the Commerce Department's interpretation of the statute "defining affiliation between parties" (Ventura Coastal v. U.S., CIT # 23-00009).
The Court of International Trade heard oral argument last week on the government's motion for alternative service in a customs penalty case against German paper exporter Koehler Oberkirch. The U.S. claimed that it was proper to serve Koehler via its U.S. counsel, attorneys at Holland and Knight, while the exporter said the government should have sought service through "diplomatic channels" (U.S. v. Koehler Oberkirch GmbH, CIT # 24-00014).
Correction: A complaint filed by the Turkish rebar exporter Kaptan Demir Celik Endustrisi challenging the Commerce Department's 2021 countervailing duty review on rebar from Turkey was in Court of International Trade case number 24-00096 (see 2407010038).
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The U.S. will appeal a Court of International Trade decision finding that importer Fraserview Remanufacturing Inc. didn't need a protest to file suit at the trade court for its entries that were erroneously deemed liquidated while liquidation was suspended (see 2401250039). The court said that because the statute for deemed liquidation requires that the entries not be suspended, CBP's notices of deemed liquidation didn't operate to actually liquidate the entries. The government on July 1 said it will take the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Fraserview Remanufacturing Inc. v. U.S., CIT # 22-00244).
Exporter Sahamitr Pressure Container will appeal a May Court of International Trade decision sustaining the Commerce Department's recalculation of exporter Sahamitr's sales expenses in the 2019-20 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on steel propane cylinders from Thailand (see 2405020029). The court said that Sahamitr failed to undermine Commerce's finding that the company's monthly-based calculation of its sales costs were distortive. The exporter said on July 1 that it will take the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Sahamitr Pressure Container v. U.S., CIT # 22-00107).
Tire importer ZC Rubber America told the Court of International Trade on July 2 that the government and petitioner Accuride Corp. failed to defend the Commerce Department's "substantial transformation" analysis regarding steel truck wheels made in Thailand with either Chinese-origin rims or discs (Asia Wheel Co. v. United States, CIT # 23-00143).