CBP Affirms EAPA Evasion Finding for Chinese Quartz Surface Products
CBP's Office of Regulations & Rulings upheld a Feb. 9 Enforce and Protect Act determination that Legion Furniture evaded antidumping and countervailing duty orders on Chinese-origin quartz surface products, according to a notice released Sept. 11 by CBP (see 2402150013).
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The proceeding started when domestic producer Cambria had filed EAPA allegations against Legion in March 2023. Cambria had argued that the Vietnamese company Phuoc Hung Joint Stock Company – Branch 1 imported Chinese-origin quartz surface products into Vietnam, attached it to cabinetry or wood furniture, and then exported the finished products as bathroom vanities to the U.S. These imports had occurred without declaring the QSP as being of Chinese origin.
CBP subsequently conducted its review, and issued its preliminary findings notice in February. Legion then filed a request for administrative review on March 25.
In that request, Legion argued that it shouldn't have been penalized because of due process concerns that it had not been afforded the opportunity to review confidential information on the record that led to TRLED’s decision. Legion cited a federal court decision, Royal Brush Manufacturing Inc. v. United States, 75 F.4th 1250 (Fed. Cir. 2023), to bolster this argument.
“In particular, Legion argues that it did not have access to certain information attached to the verification report, the specific quantities of [quartz surface product] pieces that Hong Khai reported receiving from Win Win and that Hong Khai used in its production, and confidential information included in the allegation,” CBP said in its June 20 decision. “As a result, Legion avers that it was unable to dispute or explain alleged discrepancies or offer a ‘contrary presentation of the facts.’”
However, CBP OR&R determined that the Royal Brush decision doesn’t support Legion’s claims of a procedural due process violation.
“The Federal Circuit did not overturn the finding of evasion in Royal Brush; rather, the case was remanded back to CBP to cure the defect and allow the importer a chance for rebuttal of the information once an administrative protective order was put in place,” CBP said. “This would be the appropriate course should it be determined that Legion did not have access to information ultimately used against it that materially affected its ability to defend itself.”