The Court of International Trade sustained the Commerce Department's remand results that, unprompted by court order, raised the antidumping rate for Indian steel exporter Venus Wire Industries, in a June 2 opinion. Though Judge Mark Barnett had in November only ordered Commerce to further explain its use of partial AFA in the underlying review, Commerce also changed its calculations to raise the AD rate on Venus for its stainless steel bar exports from India from 5.35% to 24.6%.
The Court of International Trade in a June 2 opinion remanded an antidumping administrative review on multilayered wood flooring from China to the Commerce Department after a related ruling in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found the mandatory respondents to not be subject to the AD order. In the remand, Commerce is to determine a new rate for the separate rate respondents now that the existing 0.79% dumping margin for the mandatory respondents' rate no longer applies.
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The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices June 2 on AD/CV duty proceedings:
Steel exporter Saha Thai Steel Pipe Public Co. agreed to the Commerce Department's remand results dropping the cost-based particular market situation adjustment in the sales-below-cost test for imports of circular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes from Thailand, according to May 28 comments filed in the Court of International Trade. The Department of Justice also signed off on the remand results, finding that although Commerce filed the results under respectful protest, continuing to find a PMS in Thailand, the agency complied with court orders by scrapping the PMS adjustment (Saha Thai Steel Pipe Public Co. Ltd. v. United States, CIT #19-00208).
COVID-19 manufacturing complications distorted both the timing and the volume of imports over the post-petition period in antidumping and countervailing duty investigations into small vertical shaft engines from China, and the International Trade Commission should not have made findings of critical circumstances that led to imposition of retroactive AD/CV duties in the eventual AD/CVD orders, U.S. importer MTD Products Inc. alleged in a May 28 complaint filed in the Court of International Trade. Foreign manufacturers could not produce the subject merchandise for a "significant portion of the pre-petition period due to COVID-19-related plant closures," MTD said. "Further, COVID-19-related closures in the United States, in addition to commercial uncertainties regarding Petitioner’s long-term viability and inability to meet a spike in domestic demand artificially inflated import volumes over this period," the complaint said. "These extraordinary circumstances significantly distorted both the timing and volume of imports over the post-petition period, the first two factors the Commission must consider when making a finding of critical circumstances." (MTD Products Inc v. United States, CIT #21-00264).
Turkish steel exporter Celik Halat ve Tel Sanayi accused the Commerce Department of a "severe abuse of discretion" by rejecting entire questionnaire responses because certain parts were filed 21 minutes and 87 minutes late in an antidumping and a countervailing duty investigation, respectively. Celik Halat says Commerce should not have applied adverse facts available to its exports of prestressed concrete steel wire strand from Turkey due to the late filings in two May 28 motions for judgment. (Celik Halat ve Tel Sanayi A.S. v. United States, CIT #21-00045, #21-00050).
The Court of International Trade sustained the Commerce Department's remand results which used partial adverse facts available to raise the antidumping rate for Indian stainless steel bar exporter Venus Wire Industries Pvt., in a June 2 opinion. After receiving remand instructions from Judge Mark Barnett on Nov. 11 to further explain its use of partial AFA, Commerce did just that, but also raised the AD rate for Venus from 5.35% to 24.60%. Venus contested the results, arguing that Commerce exceeded the scope of its own voluntary remand request and only ever meant to establish a "higher, punitive margin." Barnett rejected these claims, upholding Commerce's determination.
CBP is investigating Gogo International in response to allegations of evasion of antidumping duties required on imported diamond sawblades from China, CBP said in a May 19 notice. The investigation stems from allegations filed under the Enforce and Protect Act by the Diamond Sawblades Manufacturers’ Coalition, CBP said. The group alleged that Gogo evaded AD/CV duties using transshipment. The coalition is represented by Wiley lawyer Daniel Pickard. The Commerce Department recently issued a scope ruling in the case following a CBP request (see 2104300081).
The Court of International Trade in a June 2 opinion remanded an antidumping administrative review on multilayered wood flooring from China back to the Commerce Department after a related ruling in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found the mandatory respondents to not be subject to the AD order. In the remand, Commerce is to determine a new rate for the separate rate respondents in the review now that the existing 0.79% dumping margin for the mandatory respondents no longer applies.