The Commerce Department dropped its finding that a particular market situation existed for the sale of oil country tubular goods in South Korea, lowering the dumping rate for respondent SeAH Steel Corp. from 3.96% to zero percent. Submitting this change to the Court of International Trade via Jan. 24 remand results, Commerce said that although it disagrees with the court that its PMS position isn't backed by enough evidence, it's making the change to comply with court orders (SeAH Steel Corp. v. United States, CIT #20-00150).
The lack of access to business confidential information (BCI) in an antidumping and countervailing duty evasion investigation violated wire hanger importer Leco Supply's due process rights, the importer told the Court of International Trade in a Jan. 24 brief. Responding to CBP's remand results in which it took another look at its initial finding of evasion under the Enforce and Protect Act, Leco said its lack of access to confidential information and the withholding of information not entitled to confidentiality at the administrative level "clearly risked erroneous deviation of Leco's private interests," the brief said. An administrative protective order issued during EAPA investigations would end this concern, the importer told the trade court (Leco Supply v. U.S., CIT #21-00136).
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
Home Depot U.S.A. launched a challenge at the Court of International Trade over President Donald Trump's expansion of the Section 232 tariffs onto steel and aluminum "derivative" products, such as steel nails. Building on the early success of the PrimeSource Building Products Inc. v. U.S. case -- currently under appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit -- Home Depot said that the action to impose tariffs on the derivative products violated procedural time limits in the Section 232 statute (Home Depot USA v. United States, CIT #22-00014). In April 2021, CIT struck down the Section 232 duties on derivative goods, finding the president violated his statutory authority (see 2104050049).
Steel wheel importer Rimco seeks relief at the Court of International Trade over the Commerce Department's all-others rate in a countervailing duty review by asking the court to order Commerce not to do something that it did not do in the first place, defendant-intervenor Dexstar Wheels said in a Jan. 24 brief. Asking the trade court to toss the case, Dexstar said that Rimco failed to state a claim for which relief can be granted since Commerce did not actually set an all-others rate in the review (Rimco v. United States, CIT #21-00588).
The Commerce Department must reconsider its final determination in an antidumping duty investigation into truck and bus tires from China, the Court of International Trade said in a Jan. 24 decision. Judge Timothy Stanceu sent the matter back to Commerce so it could reconsider its decision to deny the two groups of plaintiffs -- led by Guizhou Tyre Co. and Double Coin Holdings -- separate rate status in the investigation. The judge said that the agency's reasoning was "vague and ambiguous" as to whether its inquiry focused on the Chinese government's control of the plaintiffs' export activities.
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that Meyer Corp.'s reply brief in a case over the use of first sale valuation on goods from China was not in compliance with court rules. According to the Jan. 24 notice of non-compliance, the contact information for Meyer's lawyers didn't match the information on the individuals' entries of appearance on the docket. The attorneys have five business days to correct the mistake, the court said. The reply brief came in Meyer's appeal based on a Court of International Trade ruling that held that first sale treatment may not be applicable to non-market economy exports (see 2201190059). Meyer argued that CIT improperly applied the "dual burden of proof" when it denied the importer first sale valuation on its cookware from China (Meyer Corporation v. United States, Fed. Cir. #21-1932).
The Commerce Department properly found that importer Vandewater International Inc.'s steel branch outlets are covered by the scope of the antidumping duty order on carbon steel butt-weld pipe fittings from China, Island Industries told the Court of International Trade in a Jan. 21 brief. Vandewater's and plaintiff-intervenors Sigma Corporation's and Smith-Cooper International's arguments over any differences between their steel branch outlets and BWPF are "factually inconsequential," the brief said (Vandewater International v. United States, CIT #18-00199).
Antidumping respondent Cheng Shin Rubber Industry Co.'s bid to indefinitely extend a preliminary injunction should be rejected by the Court of International Trade, the Department of Justice said in a Jan. 18 brief. DOJ said that Cheng Shin failed to show that it will suffer immediate irreparable harm for its entries made beyond the original expiration date of the injunction -- June 30, 2022 -- and that if its entries beyond this date are at risk of being liquidated, that the exporter can just request an extension of the injunction (Cheng Shin Rubber Ind. Co. Ltd. v. U.S., CIT #21-00398).