The Commerce Department unlawfully used distortive data that failed to account for the impact of grade on the price of plywood and incorrectly applied adverse facts available, Baroque Timber Industries (Zhongshan) Co., Ltd. argued on Feb. 2 in comments opposing Commerce’s remand determination filed with the Court of International Trade (Baroque Timber Industries (Zhongshan) v. United States, CIT # 23-00136).

The Commerce Department reasonably compared countervailing duty respondent Hyundai Steel's share of the benefit received from subsidized industrial class electricity in 2021 with the company's share of South Korea's GDP for 2021 to assess the specificity of the subsidy, petitioner Nucor argued in Feb. 5 remand comments at the Court of International Trade. Nucor said the comparison was reasonable, since it "illustrates how Hyundai Steel is using more industrial electricity, and thereby receiving more of a benefit, than its corresponding share of the Korean economy" (Hyundai Steel v. United States, CIT # 23-00211).

Aluminum foil exporters led by mandatory respondent Jiangsu Dinsheng New Materials Joint-Stock Co. on Feb. 2 again challenged the Commerce Department’s finding in a countervailing duty review that Dingsheng wasn’t entitled to a double remedies adjustment, saying the finding was based on “supposed deficiencies” in Dingsheng’s reporting for which the exporter hadn’t received proper notice (Jiangsu Dingsheng New Materials Joint-Stock Co. v. United States, CIT # 23-00264).

The following lawsuits were filed recently at the Court of International Trade:

Importer Kehoe Component Sales filed a consent motion for the Court of International Trade to set aside the dismissal of its customs case, which was tossed for lack of prosecution after the case wasn't removed from the customs case management calendar prior to the end of the removal period (see 2602030010) (Kehoe Component Sales v. United States, CIT # 22-00187).

The Commerce Department unreasonably applied adverse facts and unlawfully requested audited financial statements or unaudited statements with notes from Hangzhou Evernew Machinery & Equipment Company, the metal locker exporter argued in its memorandum of law filed with the Court of International Trade on Feb. 5 (Hangzhou Evernew Machinery & Equipment Company v. United States, CIT # 25-00151).

On remand in an antidumping duty case, the Commerce Department continued to use a mandatory respondent’s weighted annualized cost data for most of its conversion costs, although it did analyze whether the exporter’s costs for natural gas and electricity specifically should have been averaged on a quarterly basis. It said it had chosen to treat them “as part of the material inputs” of the exporter after the Court of International Trade identified those inputs as “ripe for reconsideration” (Citribel NV v. United States, CIT # 24-00010).

The Commerce Department's rejection of untimely information submitted during verification from exporter Qatar Melamine Company (QMC) was appropriate, as was the agency's resulting application of adverse facts available to the company, DOJ said in a response brief Feb. 2 (Qatar Melamine Company v. United States, CIT # 25-00053).

CBP's regulations implementing the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement are a "reasonable exercise of CBP's authority to implement the Agreement" and properly dictate the test for qualifying for preferential treatment under the FTA, importer JBF Bahrain argued in a Jan. 29 reply brief at the Court of International Trade. JBF said that despite asking the trade court to "ignore" the regulations and the "commitment the U.S. made to" Bahrain, the government hasn't claimed the regulations are illegal or "in conflict with the statute" (JBF Bahrain v. United States, CIT # 23-00067).

The following lawsuits were filed recently at the Court of International Trade: