The Commerce Department erred by not hitting antidumping duty respondent Chandan Steel Limited with adverse facts available based on the company's inaccurate and incomplete reporting of information, the Coalition of American Flange Producers said in a June 3 complaint at the Court of International Trade. The coalition filed its case to challenge Commerce's final results in the administrative review of the AD order on stainless steel flanges from India. The AD petitioner also challenged Commerce's decision not to hit Kisaan Die Tech Private Limited with AFA based on its allegedly "inaccurate and incomplete reporting" (Coalition of American Flange Producers v. United States, CIT #22-00168).
Agricultural net wrap imported by RWW Klerks can only be used in harvesting machinery, and should be classified as a part of harvesting machinery of Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8433, rather than as liquidated by CBP in heading 6005 as a textile material, the importer said in a June 3 motion filed at the Court of International Trade (RKW Klerks Inc. v. United States, CIT # 20-00001).
An importer seeks a refund of antidumping and countervailing duties for defective plywood that it says should have been valued at less than it was at liquidation, it said in a June 3 motion for summary judgment filed at the Court of International Trade. Bral asked the court to issue an order that the subject merchandise be reappraised to a value equal to 18% of its original value, order the assessment of ad valorum duties on the reappraised value of the merchandise, and order the refund of all excess duties plus interest (Bral Corporation v. United States, CIT # 20-00154).
Antidumping duty petitioner Nucor Corp.'s standards for quantitative data over a level of trade (LOT) adjustment misrepresent the Commerce Department's requirements for quantitative data, AD respondent Productos Laminados de Monterrey (Prolamsa) argued in a reply brief at the Court of International Trade. Nothing on the record suggests that Prolamsa's evidence was "incapable of being verified," the brief said (Productos Laminados de Monterrey S.A. de C.V. v. U.S., CIT #20-00166).
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its mandate June 2 in a case originally brought by exporter Nexteel over the second administrative review of the antidumping duty order on oil country tubular goods from South Korea. In the opinion, the appellate court said the Commerce Department didn't properly support its position that a particular market situation existed affecting inputs of the subject merchandise (see 2203110044). The Federal Circuit also sustained Commerce's practice of capping freight revenue when calculating U.S. price. Most recently in the case, respondent SeAH Steel unsuccessfully vied for a full court rehearing (Nexteel Co. Inc. v. United States, CAFC # 21-1334).
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The Court of International Trade in a confidential June 1 opinion dismissed a challenge from Turkish steel exporter Borusan Mannesmann Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret seeking the reversal of its denied Section 232 steel and aluminum tariff exclusion requests. In a letter to the litigants, Judge Timothy Reif said that the parties have until June 8 to review the bracketed confidential information and the remainder of the opinion to see if anything else should be redacted from the public versions. The U.S. originally moved to toss the case since the subject entries are not liquidated, and Borusan filed the case under Section 1581(a), which requires a protestable decision to occur before such a claim can be made (see 2108260062). In a public judgment, Reif sided with the U.S., dismissing the case (Borusan Mannesmann Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret v. United States, CIT #21-00186).
A recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit opinion, Hitachi Energy USA v. U.S., appeared in two antidumping duty cases as a supplemental authority, according to two notices at the Court of International Trade. The May 24 opinion said the Commerce Department improperly used adverse facts available over a respondent's reporting of service-related revenue. The court ruled that Commerce's change of methodology and later finding that the respondent failed to provide all the required sales data in the right form cut against the statutory requirement to provide notice and opportunity to remedy a deficiency (see 2205240028). The appellate court said that Commerce has no right to use AFA unless the respondent has failed to provide the requested information after being notified of the deficiency.
Gun sight inserts that use tritium for powerless illumination in low light conditions should be classified in Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 9022 as apparatus that use beta radiation, rather than in heading 9405 as non-electrical lamps, importer Trijicon said in a complaint filed May 31 at the Court of International Trade. Despite a ruling issued by CBP to the contrary, Trijicon said heading 9022 covers apparatus that use beta radiation regardless of end use, and that the use of beta radiation is more specific for tariff classification purposes and harder to satisfy than lamp (Trijicon Inc. v. United States, CIT # 22-00040).