Magnesia alumina carbon (MAC) brick exporter Fedmet Resources' move to oppose the U.S. stay motion in an Enforce and Protect Act case only delays resolution, DOJ argued in a June 3 reply brief at the Court of International Trade. Fedmet opposes the stay and seeks the filing of a voluntary remand in a window that the U.S. says is impossible since it needs a covered merchandise referral determination from the Commerce Department -- the matter at the heart of the contested stay motion (Fedmet Resources v. U.S., CIT #21-00248).
Even if the Commerce Department finds that solar panels from Southeast Asia are circumventing antidumping and countervailing duty actions against Chinese exports, no AD/CVD will be collected for the next two years, the Biden administration announced on June 6. Trade lawyers were astonished by the action, which is based on the authority to temporarily suspend AD/CVD when imports are needed to respond to natural disasters "or other emergencies."
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices June 6 on AD/CVD proceedings:
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
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).
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).
When it comes to the question of whether a countervailing duty respondent's U.S. customers used China's Export Buyer's Credit Program, "'No' means 'no,'" respondent Yama Ribbons and Bows Co. said in a June 3 reply brief at the Court of International Trade. Yama said it fully answered whether this program was used by any of its customers and that should be enough for Commerce to verify non-use (Yama Ribbons and Bows Co., Ltd. v. United States, CIT #21-00402).
The Commerce Department cannot countervail Vietnam's currency devaluation practices, exporter Kumho Tire (Vietnam) (KTV) said in a May 25 reply brief at the Court of International Trade. The U.S.'s and the CVD petitioner's arguments to the contrary, particularly that currency devaluation is specific to exporters, ignore that Vietnamese exporters don't have to convert their U.S. dollar earnings into Vietnamese dong, the brief said (Kumho Tire (Vietnam) v. U.S., CIT #21-00397).
President Joe Biden announced on June 6 a 24-month grace period during which solar cells from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam may be imported free from antidumping and countervailing duties, regardless of the results of an ongoing anti-circumvention inquiry being carried out by the Commerce Department.