CIT Remands Surrogate Value from China Folding Tables & Chairs New Shipper Review
The Court of International Trade remanded the final results of an antidumping duty new shipper review on folding metal tables and chairs from China (A-570-868), for the International Trade Administration to reconsider and explain its selection of a surrogate value for one of plaintiff Xinjiamei Furniture’s inputs. The ITA’s chosen value represented only one-fiftieth of one percent of production of cold-rolled steel input from only one major Indian producer, and the input’s value was three times as high as that from the data Xinjiamei placed on the record.
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The ITA rejected Xinjiamei’s submissions opposing the ITA’s chosen data because plaintiff’s data (1) wasn’t exactly contemporaneous with the period of review; (2) was from countries not listed as potential surrogates; and (3) in one case, represented the sales of only one company. But CIT said the ITA omitted the critical step of determining whether its chosen surrogate value information was itself reliable. The ITA’s policy of possibly relying on data that represents only a small sample of sales is acceptable, the court said, but only if the data is corroborated with other market data showing it falls within a range of reasonable market prices. Xinjiamei’s submissions were acceptable as evidence of overall market conditions, CIT said.
The court said that the ITA could continue to use the surrogate value data it chose in its final results, but must explain why it is reliable in light of data submitted by Xinjiamei.
(Xinjiamei Furniture (Zhangzhou) Co., Ltd. v. United States, Slip Op. 13-30, dated 03/11/13, Judge Eaton)
(Attorneys: Lizbeth Levinson of Kutak Rock for plaintiff Xinjiamei Furniture (Zhangzhou) Co., Ltd.; Stuart Delery for defendant U.S. government)