The Court of International Trade should reconsider its decision to uphold the Commerce Department's use of the Cohen's d test as part of its differential pricing analysis (DPA) to root out "masked" dumping, given a recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decision, plaintiff SeAH Steel Corp. argued in a Nov. 21 reply brief. Responding to the U.S.'s opposition to the rehearing bid, SeAH said that since the Federal Circuit called the use of the Cohen's d test into question in Stupp Corp. v. U.S., the trade court needs to reconsider its ruling made before the CAFC decision (SeAH Steel Corp. v. United States, CIT #19-00086).
The Commerce Department requested a voluntary remand to consider whether there is enough evidence to verify claims that countervailing duty respondent Jiangsu Senmao Bamboo and Wood Industry Co. did not use China's Export Buyer's Credit Program, the U.S. said in a Nov. 23 reply brief at the Court of International Trade. Senmao gave Commerce non-use declarations for all of its U.S. customers. Seeing as the trade court has in past decisions remanded CVD cases to consider whether information such as these declarations may be enough to verify non-use, the agency requested the chance to review this information (Evolutions Flooring v. United States, CIT Consol. #21-00591).
An amended complaint in a conflict-of-interest case does not cure the fundamental deficiencies of the suit, the U.S. argued in a second motion to dismiss at the Court of International Trade. While the amended complaint included specific examples of alleged ethical violations committed by plaintiff Amsted Rail Co.'s former counsel and a declaration from an ethics expert, the case still suffers from a lack of jurisdiction, the government said (Amsted Rail Co. v. United States, CIT # 22-00316).
The Court of International Trade erred by upholding the Commerce Department's exclusion of dual-stenciled pipe from the antidumping duty order on circular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes from Thailand, defendant-appellant Wheatland Tube Co. told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in its opening brief. Commerce's original scope ruling including dual-stenciled pipe was backed by evidence since the pipe met the physical characteristics laid out in the scope of the order "and was made to an industrial specification for standard pipe" (Saha Thai Steel Pipe Public Co. v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 22-2181).
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices Nov. 25 on AD/CVD proceedings:
Surety company Aegis Security Insurance Co. must pay more than $100,000 in unpaid duties on an entry of honey from China imported in 2002, the U.S. argued in a Nov. 22 complaint at the Court of International Trade. The suit, filed under Section 1582, echoes another case brought against Aegis that looks to collect duties on entries of garlic that liquidated in 2006 (see 2211010037). The surety in that case has argued that the statute of limitations has passed for the action, claiming that the U.S. has a six-year window to file such action that runs from the date of liquidation. The U.S. says that this window starts from when CBP makes a demand for payment (United States v. Aegis Security Insurance Co., CIT # 22-00327).
The Commerce Department properly dropped its particular market situation adjustment to two antidumping duty respondents' costs of production in the sales-below-cost test, the Court of International Trade ruled in a Nov. 23 opinion. Judge Gary Katzmann said that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit "in an analogous case, Hyundai Steel Co., made it illegal for Commerce to make a PMS adjustment to the sales-below-cost test when finding normal value based on home market sales, supporting the agency's removal of the adjustment in the present case.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a Nov. 23 order denied plaintiff-appellee Hitachi Energy USA's motion for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc in an antidumping duty case. In a May opinion, the Federal Circuit ruled that the Commerce Department improperly used adverse facts available on respondent Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. over its reporting of service-related revenue. The court said Hyundai had the right to supplement the record and that Commerce can't claim the company shirked its obligations in the review (see 2205240028) (Hitachi Energy USA v. United States, Fed. Cir. #20-2114).
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices Nov. 23 on AD/CVD proceedings:
The Commerce Department did not err in its scope ruling that found that two-ply hardwood plywood fell under the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on hardwood plywood from China, the government said in a Nov. 18 reply brief at the Court of International Trade. The brief asked the court to sustain the underlying scope ruling (Vietnam Finewood Company Ltd. v. U.S., CIT # 22-00049).