Plywood Importers Drop Their Suits on Circumvention Finding on Vietnamese Hardwood
Two companies, Rugby Holdings and Hardwoods Specialty Products, dropped their challenges to the Commerce Department's use of adverse facts available in anti-circumvention inquiries regarding antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders on hardwood plywood from China. Counsel for the companies didn't immediately respond to requests for comment (Rugby Holdings LLC v. United States, CIT #s 25-00119, -00122) (Hardwoods Specialty Products US v. United States, CIT #s 25-00117, -00121).
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In the anti-circumvention proceedings, Commerce created a certification process that would let exporters demonstrate that their goods were of Vietnamese and not Chinese origin. This process required that exporters and importers have these certifications on hand, but didn’t instruct them to submit the certifications alongside the entries unless asked.
Rugby Holdings and Hardwoods Specialty Products said they bought their goods from exporter Greatwood Hung Yen, which was allowed to participate in the certification process. But when Greatwood Hung Yen’s products were entered into the U.S., Commerce instructed that only entries accompanied by a certification could be liquidated without AD/CVD, the importers said (see 2507210071).
“Commerce’s certification regime, however, requires only that exporters and importers maintain such certifications, not that they submit them,” both importers said.