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.
The Court of International Trade on May 19 granted importer Inspired Ventures' motion to refer its customs suit to court-annexed mediation. Judge Lisa Wang disagreed with the government's reasons for opposing mediation, which included claims that the controversy in the case is "legal in nature" and thus "not amenable to mediation" (Inspired Ventures v. United States, CIT # 24-00062).
The Court of International Trade on May 21 remanded the Commerce Department's second remand results in a case on the antidumping duty investigation on common alloy aluminum sheet from Turkey. Judge Gary Katzmann held that Commerce unlawfully failed to respond to an objection from the petitioner, the Aluminum Association Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet Trade Enforcement Working Group, that one of respondent Assan Aluminyum's submissions to the agency on remand contained new information that didn't rebut, clarify or correct information submitted in the petitioner's rebuttal regarding Assan's duty drawback adjustment. Katzmann also held that Commerce unlawfully failed to respond to the petitioner's objection to the agency's reliance on "unverified information" in two of Assan's submissions on remand.
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices May 20 on AD/CVD proceedings:
The Commerce Department improperly used the financial statements of Indonesian company PT Suparma in the antidumping duty investigation on paper plates from Vietnam, respondent Go-Pak Vietnam argued in a May 17 complaint at the Court of International Trade. The respondent also challenged Commerce's decision to use a simple average of the average unit values from two different subheadings to value its paper input, despite evidence showing that the company's paper is classified under only one of the subheadings (Go-Pak Paper Products Vietnam Co. v. United States, CIT # 25-00070).
The Court of International Trade on May 19 upheld CBP's final determination that importer Vanguard Trading Co. evaded the antidumping duty order on Chinese quartz countertops. Judge Timothy Reif issued a confidential decision in the case upholding the evasion determination. Among other things, Vanguard challenged the strict liability standard that CBP established for importers regarding evasion and its ability to decide when it must seek scope clarification from the Commerce Department during Enforce and Protect Act duty evasion investigations (Vanguard Trading Co. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00253).
The Court of International Trade upheld May 16 the Commerce Department’s affirmative circumvention finding for solar cells from Cambodia, saying again -- as it did in a concurrent case -- (see 2505160045) that Commerce’s reliance on one country-of-origin factor, level of research and development investment, was reasonable.
The Court of International Trade on May 19 sent back the Commerce Department's circumvention finding on solar cells from Vietnam just days after sustaining two circumvention findings on solar cells from Thailand and Cambodia. Judge M. Miller Baker said in the Vietnamese circumvention case that Commerce "arbitrarily treated its adverse facts available finding as the administrative equivalent of landing on 'Go to Jail.'"
In a scope ruling released May 7, the Commerce Department said that certain temporary use spare tires imported from China by Logistical Resource Development aren’t subject to antidumping and countervailing duty orders on Chinese passenger vehicle and light truck tires. It has reached similar decisions regarding temporary use tires from Taiwan and Thailand (see 2403120022) and 2401250038).
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices May 19 on AD/CVD proceedings: