The Commerce Department illegally picked Germany as the third-country comparison market in the antidumping duty investigation on preserved mushrooms from the Netherlands, U.S. mushroom producer Giorgio Foods argued in a July 21 complaint at the Court of International Trade. Giorgio, the AD petitioner, said that none of the reasons Commerce gave for picking Germany was supported by substantial evidence, leading, in part, to a de minimis rate for respondent Prochamp and the company's exclusion from the AD order (Giorgio Foods v. U.S., CIT # 23-00133).
The Court of International Trade in a July 24 opinion granted the Commerce Department's voluntary remand request to address alleged errors in calculating the antidumping margin as part of the investigation on forged steel fluid end blocks from Germany. Judge Stephen Vaden also sent the case back after finding that Commerce did not express a clear rationale for its refusal to address petitioner Ellwood City Forge Co.'s claims on alternate legal grounds Commerce could have used to make a particular market situation adjustment.
The Commerce Department failed to explain its "abrupt change in practice" from its past decision finding that exporter KG Dongbu Steel's debt-to-equity restructurings were not countervailable, Dongbu argued in a July 21 opening brief at the Court of International Trade. The exporter relied on the trade court's recent opinion finding in a separate case also brought by Dongbu in which the court agreed and said that the change in practice was "arbitrary and unlawful" (see 2307100028). "The facts are the same in this appeal" on the 2020 review of the CVD order on corrosion-resistant steel products from South Korea, and the court "should reach the same conclusion here" (KG Dongbu Steel Co. v. United States, CIT # 23-00055).
The Commerce Department failed to apply "a well-established legal framework" when it continued to find on remand that heat-treated T-series sheet imported by Valeo was within the scope of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on common alloy aluminum sheet from China, Valeo said in its remand comments submitted July 20 (Valeo North America v. U.S., CIT # 21-00581).
The government correctly classified counterweights for mini-excavators as "backhoe" parts, rendering them ineligible for a Section 301 tariff exclusion, CIT Judge Jane Restani ruled in a July 21 opinion.
The Commerce Department got its remand results right when it concluded that hardwood plywood made using two-ply panels imported into Vietnam from China and then exported to the U.S. by the Vietnam Finewood Company were outside the scope of antidumping and countervailing duties on hardwood plywood from China, plaintiffs Far East American and Liberty Woods International said in a July 19 response (Far East American v. U.S., CIT Consol. # 22-00049).
Paul Goldfinch, a sanctioned former board member at Russian financial institution Bank Otkritie, filed suit on July 17 at the District Court for the District of Columbia over the government's failure to render a decision on his delisting petition. The banker, listing the State and Treasury Departments as defendants, said he resigned after Bank Otkritie was listed in February 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but the government has stalled on finding that he has satisfied its delisting requirements (Paul Goldfinch v. Antony J. Blinken, D.D.C. # 23-02045).
The Commerce Department released its remand results in a case challenging the third administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain uncoated paper from Brazil. On remand, Commerce adjusted its cost of production calculations for AD respondent Suzano and further explained its decision as required by the court. Commerce reduced the weighted-average dumping margin from 32.31% to 8.63% in its remand results (Suzano S.A. v. U.S., CIT # 21-00069).
The Court of International Trade in a July 19 opinion upheld the Commerce Department's decision to assign exporter Double Coin Holdings the 105.31% China-wide antidumping duty rate in an administrative review of the AD order on off-the-road tires from China. Judge Timothy Stanceu said the decision complies with the court's previous decision finding that Double Coin did not rebut the presumption of Chinese state control over its export activities. No parties commented on the remand results.
Importer Amsted Rail Co. voluntarily dismissed its conflict-of-interest suit against the Commerce Department at the Court of International Trade. The case, involving the company's former counsel Daniel Pickard, now partner at Buchanan Ingersoll, was previously stayed pending resolution of a related matter against the International Trade Commission. Amsted earlier this month also dismissed the ITC matter at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit after the importer filed a joint stipulation of voluntary dismissal (see 2307050052) (Amsted Rail Co. v. U.S., CIT # 22-00316).