The Court of International Trade on April 17 said that after the Commerce Department decided to continue an antidumping duty investigation on Mexican tomatoes initially paused in 1996, it must use the original investigation period, 1995-96, and not the later period of 2018-19. Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves ruled that the statute and congressional intent are clear that when Commerce resumes a suspended AD investigation, it must stick with the original investigation period.
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices April 17 on AD/CVD proceedings:
Petitioners and an Indian freshwater shrimp exporter on April 16 both filed briefs opposing each other’s motions for judgment (see 2402080060). The petitioners said that the exporter was attempting to go against the Commerce Department's usual practice regarding interest expenses offsets, while the exporter claimed the petitioners had no evidence its home-market sales were destined for consumption elsewhere (Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Action Committee v U.S., CIT # 23-00202).
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The International Trade Commission on April 16 continued to stick by its decision that imports of methionine from Spain had "significant price effects on prices for the domestic like product," part of its finding in an antidumping duty investigation that the imports of the product injured U.S. industry. In remand results submitted to the Court of International Trade, the commission said it considered the "factual accuracy of the volume of lost sales," as instructed by the court, and came to the same conclusion (Adisseo Espana v. United States, CIT # 21-00562).
The Court of International Trade in an opinion made public April 16 sent back the Commerce Department's use of adverse facts available against exporter Garg Tube Exports in the 2018-19 review of the antidumping duty order on welded carbon steel standard pipes and tubes from India.
The Court of International Trade on April 17 sent back the Commerce Department's decision to use the 2018-19 investigation period for its antidumping investigation on fresh tomatoes from Mexico. The investigation was resumed after being suspended multiple times since 1995, wrote Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves, saying that the statute and congressional intent are clear that Commerce, when resuming a suspended investigation, must continue with the original investigation period. The judge made this decision after first finding that U.S. grower Red Sun Farms requested the continuation of the investigation when it made its request in 2019. Choe-Groves said that U.S. companies can make new requests for the continuation of suspended investigations after each suspension.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative reappointed Devin Sikes, counsel for Akin Gump, to the U.S. roster for antidumping and countervailing duty disputes stemming from USMCA Chapter 10, the firm announced. The term -- Sikes' fifth on the U.S. roster -- expires March 31, 2025.
World Trade Organization members, during an April 11 Committee on Trade and Development meeting, reviewed developments in regional trade agreements and ways to increase developing nations' role in the global trading system, the WTO announced. The committee noted that developing nations face challenges to participating in international trade, including "dependence on commodity exports and higher trade costs." The members addressed policy spaces for developing nations to boost industrial development, including under the WTO's framework of the Agreements on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, Trade-Related Investment Measures and Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices April 16 on AD/CVD proceedings: