The Commerce Department legally selected Malaysian import data to value backsheet and ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA) in an antidumping duty review on solar cells from China because that data best corresponds to the inputs used by exporter Risen Energy Co., the U.S. argued in an Aug. 3 reply brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Risen Energy Co. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-11550).
The Court of International Trade in an Aug. 3 order assigned a case challenging the results of the Commerce Department's antidumping duty investigation on preserved mushrooms from the Netherlands to Judge M. Miller Baker. Petitioner Giorgio Foods filed the suit in June claiming that Commerce illegally picked Germany as the third-country comparison market since none of the reasons the agency gave for picking the nation were supported by substantial evidence (see 2307240018). The result of the investigation was a de minimis rate for respondent Prochamp and the company's exclusion from the AD order (Giorgio Foods v. U.S., CIT # 23-00133).
Importer Eteng Technologies Aug. 2 moved to dismiss its customs suit at the Court of International Trade related to its shipments of backpacking tents. The company challenged CBP's classification of the tents under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 6302.22.90, dutiable at 8.8%, claiming that they should be classified under subheading 6306.22.10, free of duty. John Peterson, counsel for Eteng, said in an email that he realized the duties were not paid before the case was filed, which would have led the suit being tossed for lack of jurisdiction (Eteng Technologies v. United States, CIT # 22-00167).
A recently concluded case at the Court of International Trade was a serious contest between the power of the court and the finality of liquidation, customs lawyer Larry Friedman of Barnes Richardson said in an Aug. 2 blog post. The case at issue was Target v. U.S., in which Target attempted to reverse a reliquidation order on improperly liquidated ironing tables from China (see 2108160028). Reversing the order would "elevate the principle of finality" of liquidation over the power of the trade court, Judge Leo Gordon said in his July opinion (see 2307200049).
The Court of International Trade erred when it signed off on the Commerce Department's refusal to conduct a full administrative review of and apply adverse facts available to exporter Jin Tiong Electrical Materials Manufacturer despite issuing a questionnaire, importer Repwire and Jin Tiong said in an Aug. 3 opening brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Repwire v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1933).
The Commerce Department did not satisfy its statutory obligations to tell antidumping duty respondents their submissions were deficient ahead of granting constructed export price adjustments, the Court of International Trade ruled in an Aug. 3 opinion. Remanding the 2019-20 review of the AD order on circular welded non-alloy steel pipe from South Korea, Judge Timothy Reif said the agency should provide the mandatory respondents with notice of their deficiencies and give them a chance to explain them.
The Court of International Trade improperly dismissed for lack of jurisdiction a $5.7 million customs penalty suit against importer Katana Racing, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in an Aug. 3 opinion. While the trade court said Katana properly revoked a statute of limitations waiver making the U.S. government's suit untimely, Judges Sharon Prost, Alvin Schall and Todd Hughes said the statute of limitations "is not a jurisdictional time limit." Instead, it provides an "affirmative defense" that can be waived.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit officially issued its order vacating and remanding the Court of International Trade's opinion upholding CBP's evasion finding for importer Royal Brush Manufacturing. The Aug. 1 order came a few days after the court's consequential opinion, which said CBP violated Royal Brush's due process rights by not giving it access to confidential information in the Enforce and Protect Act investigation into the company (see 2307270038). The order remands the antidumping and countervailing duty evasion case so the agency can make the whole record available to the importer (Royal Brush Manufacturing v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 22-1226).
The U.S. will appeal a June Court of International Trade opinion upholding the Commerce Department's remand results in a suit on the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on multilayered wood flooring from China. The remand results dropped the presumption the Chinese government controlled exporter Jilin Forest Industry Jinqiao Flooring Group Co. after the trade court questioned whether Commerce could disregard a mandatory respondent's own data in favor of the countrywide nonmarket economy rate (see 2305040061).
The Commerce Department unlawfully relied on the Cohen's d test and incorrectly applied partial adverse facts to Indian exporter Garg Tube on remand in an antidumping duty case on welded carbon steel standard pipes and tubes from India, Garg said in a July 31 motion for judgment at the Court of International Trade (Garg Tube Export v. U.S., CIT # 21-00169).