Trade Court Again Sends Back CVD Case Over China's EBCP, Upholds Wood Benchmark
The Court of International Trade in a May 12 opinion made public May 20 remanded the Commerce Department's final determination in the countervailing duty investigation on wood cabinets and vanities from China. The plaintiffs, led by Dalian Meisen Woodworking Co., challenged Commerce's use of adverse facts available on China's Export Buyer's Credit Program and the agency's use of a different plywood benchmark for different companies despite the fact that the companies used the same types of plywood.
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In the opinion on the EBCP, Judge Richard Eaton said that Commerce can either "find a practical solution to verify the non-use" of the program or recalculate the CVD rate for the respondents to exclude the EBCP. However, the judge sustained the agency's position on the benchmark, finding that Commerce used the Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading each respondent said that it used to make its product and that "nothing more is needed."