The Court of International Trade on April 17 sustained the Commerce Department's antidumping duty investigation on fresh tomatoes from Mexico, which was initially opened in 1996. After the agency calculated AD margins for the seven respondents from the original 1995-96 investigation period on remand, a group of intervenors, led by NS Brands, challenged Commerce's decision not to find a changed circumstance or initiate new shipper reviews for the intervenors. Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves dismissed the claims for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, noting that they could have been brought under Section 1581(i), the court's "residual" jurisdiction, instead of under the plaintiffs' jurisdictional claim under Section 1581(c). The judge also found that the intervenors lacked standing to sue.
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices April 16 on AD/CVD proceedings:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 14 denied court-appointed amicus Andrew Dhuey access to confidential filings in an appeal on the International Trade Commission's treatment of business proprietary information. Judge Evan Wallach said Dhuey "has not shown" that access to this information is "necessary for him to file his proposed amicus brief." The judge said the motion is "denied without prejudice to Mr. Dhuey raising arguments" on "why access to particular confidential information cited in the United States’ brief is needed to assist the court" (In Re United States, Fed. Cir. # 24-1566).
Trade Law Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week, in case you missed them. All articles can be found by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
In an April 14 opinion, Court of International Trade Judge Timothy Reif remanded in part and sustained in part the Commerce Department’s final determination in its administrative review of the antidumping duty order on chlorinated isocyanurates from China. He upheld the department’s usual two-step surrogate selection process under Loper Bright, but he found that Commerce erred in its selection of comparable merchandise for chlorinated isos.
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices April 15 on AD/CVD proceedings:
The U.S. and plaintiff Tokyo Ohka Kogyo America filed April 10 a stipulated judgment for a 2017 case involving a dispute over the classification of certain photoresists (Toykyo Ohka Kogyo America v. United States, CIT # 17-00070).
Petitioner Nucor filed an opening brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 7 challenging a trade court ruling that favored exporter KG Dongbu Steel, the mandatory respondent in a 2019 countervailing duty administrative review on corrosion-resistant steel products from Korea. It said the Commerce Department had “plainly satisfied” the legal standard for changing its position from one review to another (Nucor Corp. v. KG Dongbu Steel Co., Fed. Cir. # 25-1411).
The Court of International Trade sustained the Commerce Department's decision on remand to adjust exporter Trina Solar Co.'s antidumping duty rate based on three programs the agency countervailed in a related countervailing duty review. Judge Claire Kelly said Commerce reasonably adjusted the rate for only three of the six countervailed subsidies after finding that only three are export contingent.
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 is for the 2025-26 roster of individuals who may serve as panelists to settle binational disputes.