The Court of International Trade on July 14 upheld the Commerce Department's decisions in an antidumping duty review to disregard respondent Nexteel's accounting method and classify the company's losses from suspension of production lines as general and administrative expenses (G&A) instead of costs of goods sold (COGS). Judge Claire Kelly said that Commerce, in the 2016-2017 administrative review on welded line pipe from South Korea, "adequately explains that the depreciation and other costs" linked with suspended production lines "are more akin to a company-wide cost" instead of a cost of manufacturing borne by specific products.
The Court of International Trade erred by sustaining the Commerce Department’s conclusions regarding cost smoothing, cost reconciliation, and differential pricing in the antidumping duty investigation on wind towers from Canada, respondent Marmem said in a July 10 opening brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Marmen v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 2023-1877).
The Commerce Department legally weight-averaged or "smoothed" antidumping duty respondent Dongkuk S&C Co.'s "disparate" steel plate costs in the AD investigation on utility scale wind towers from South Korea, the government and petitioner Wind Tower Trade Coalition argued in a pair of reply briefs at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Dongkuk S&C Co. v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 23-1419).
The Commerce Department stuck with its use of adverse facts available for countervailing duty respondent Risen Energy for its alleged use of China's Export Buyer's Credit Program, in spite of a second Court of International Trade remand requiring Commerce to reconsider the issue, among others. In the remand results, Commerce also reevaluated its use of Thai land prices when calculating benefits for respondents JA Solar and Risen and its benchmark data for ocean freight, dropping JA Solar's CVD rate from 7.75% to 7.68% and Risen's from 9.84% to 9.69% (Risen Energy v. U.S., CIT # 20-03912).
The Court of International Trade in a July 14 opinion upheld the Commerce Department's remand results in a case on the 2017-18 review of the antidumping duty order on welded line pipe from South Korea. Judge Claire Kelly said that Commerce adequately explained its decision to reject exporter Nexteel's accounting method and classify the company's losses related to the suspension of its production lines as general and administrative expenses instead of costs of goods sold. The judge also said Commerce answered the court's previous questions on which of Nexteel's production lines were suspended during which parts of the review period and on whether the agency differentiates among suspension periods based on when they occur in the review period.
The Court of International Trade in a July 13 opinion dismissed a lawsuit from PrimeSource Building Products against President Donald Trump's move to expand Section 232 national security tariffs onto steel and aluminum "derivative" products pursuant to the mandate issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
The White House on July 11 officially sent the Senate its two nominees to fill vacancies on the Court of International Trade. The Commerce Department's Lisa Wang and Schagrin Associates' Joseph Laroski were nominated to fill the seats left by Judges Leo Gordon and Timothy Stanceu, respectively.
The Court of International Trade granted importer World Wide Packaging's bid to dismiss its case on the classification of plastic tubes and caps from China due to a settlement. The case, which challenges CBP's classification of the goods based on the post-importation sale to its downstream U.S. customers, was stayed so the parties could discuss whether the appeal could be subject to a stipulated judgment (see 2108090034) (World Wide Packaging, LLC v. United States, CIT # 21-00189).
The Court of International Trade in a July 12 opinion upheld the Commerce Department's decision on voluntary remand to slash from 82.05% to 41.03% the antidumping duty rate for the separate rate respondents in the 2016-17 review on diamond sawblades from China. The case had been stayed pending the resolution of a case on the previous administrative review, Bosun Tools Co. v. U.S., in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed Commerce's move to similarly cut the separate rate.
CBP’s determination that the entries of softwood lumber imported by Fraserview Remanufacturing had been deemed liquidated and the agency's posting of liquidation notices can't be challenged at the Court of International Trade because a protest contesting that determination is currently being adjudicated by CBP, DOJ said in a July 11 dismissal motion (Fraserview Remanufacturing v. U.S., CIT # 23-00063).