The International Trade Commission was wrong not to cumulate imports of cold-rolled steel flat products from Brazil with imports from China, India, Japan, South Korea and the U.K. in a five-year sunset review of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on the products, U.S. company Cleveland-Cliffs argued in an Oct. 5 complaint the Court of International Trade. The ITC further erred by focusing on the likely volume of the Brazilian imports in its cumulation analysis in the injury investigation, resulting in an "impermissible circular" injury analysis, the complaint said (Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. v. United States, CIT #22-00257).
When the Court of International Trade on Sept. 13 ruled that the Commerce Department could use adverse facts available for use of China's Export Buyer's Credit Program, an appeal of the matter seemed inevitable. The trade court had issued a string of opinions rejecting Commerce's ability to use AFA in this way, and the U.S. had refused to appeal, leading to the issue floating in legal limbo given CIT's lack of power to issue a precedential opinion. Judge M. Miller Baker's opinion upholding use of AFA put the power to appeal in the hands of the countervailing duty respondents (see 2209140029). While an appeal may seem straightforward, other concerns cloud the prospect.
The following lawsuit was recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The U.S. plans to file a petition for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit of an opinion finding that the Commerce Department cannot select just one mandatory respondent in an antidumping duty review where multiple exporters have requested a review. The Federal Circuit granted an order on Oct. 5 giving the government 60 more days to file the rehearing motion. In the case, originally brought by YC Rubber Co., the Federal Circuit said that Commerce's interpretation of the statute finding that it can use only one respondent cuts against the statute's unambiguous language (see 2208290026). The judges ruled the agency has not shown it to be otherwise reasonable to calculate the all-others rate based on only one respondent and said the directive to find a weighted average gives no reason why it's reasonable to use only a single rate (YC Rubber Co. (North America) v. United States, Fed. Cir. 21-1489).
The Court of International Trade in an Oct. 5 confidential opinion sent back parts and upheld parts of the Commerce Department's final results in the 2018 administrative review of the countervailing duty order on carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate from South Korea. In a letter submitted to the litigants, Judge Mark Barnett gave the parties until Oct. 12 to review the opinion over information that should be deemed confidential. In the case, Commerce decided not to consider off-peak electricity sold for less than adequate remuneration (Nucor Corporation v. United States, CIT #21-00182).
CBP did not violate the law by refusing to make a referral to the Commerce Department on a question of country of origin since CBP was "fully able to determine" that the wooden cabinets and vanities at issue in an Enforce and Protect Act investigation were covered by the relevant orders, petitioner Masterbrand Cabinets argued in an Oct. 4 reply brief at the Court of International Trade (Skyview Cabinet USA v. United States, CIT #22-00080).
The Court of International Trade in an Oct. 4 opinion ruled that CBP properly classified net wraps used for bailing hay as a warp knit fabric under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 6005.39.00. Judge Mark Barnett ruled against classification under plaintiff RKW Klerks' preferred subheading 8433.90.50 as "parts" of "harvesting or threshing machinery."
Richard Lant, a Nevada resident, pleaded guilty on Oct. 3 to conspiracy to illegally export tank helmets to Iran, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California announced. From May to October 2015, Lant and other co-conspirators, including Dariush Niknia, who pleaded guilty in September, worked to illegally sell 500 of the Russian-made tank helmets to Niknia's Iranian customer. The helmets were made for Russian-made T-72S battle tanks and have a "five-pin plug" feature needed for compatibility with a tank communication device, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in an Oct. 3 order gave the U.S. an additional 4,000 words for its reply brief in a spat over whether the president can revoke a safeguard exemption granted for bifacial solar panels. The government originally sought to double its word count to 14,000, though the appellees in the matter, led by the Solar Energy Industries Association, proposed to limit the bid to 11,000 (see 2209190057). Judge Jimmie Reyna sided with the appellees (Solar Energy Industries Association v. United States, Fed. Cir. #22-1392).
The Commerce Department failed to adhere to the Court of International Trade's remand instructions concerning its duty to perform verification in an antidumping duty case, plaintiffs led by Bonney Forge argued in an Oct. 3 brief at the Court of International Trade. The trade court ordered Commerce to either conduct verification, even if virtually, or more fully explain why it cannot in the context of current conditions and not those of the investigation period. Bonney Forge argued that Commerce violated these instructions by basing its remand results on the conditions during the investigation (Bonney Forge Corporation v. United States, CIT #20-03837).