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Court of Federal Appeals Trade activity
The Commerce Department and the Court of International Trade properly held that China Custom Manufacturing's solar panel mounts do not qualify for the finished goods exclusion from the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on aluminum extrusions from China, DOJ argued in an April 18 reply brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. CCM, along with importer Greentec Engineering, ask Commerce to apply an outdated interpretation of the exclusion that doesn't consider key precedent from the Federal Circuit, the U.S. said (China Custom Manufacturing v. United States, Fed. Cir. #22-1345).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 14 granted a bid from plaintiffs-appellants Deacero and Deacero USA to stay the briefing schedule in an antidumping duty challenge, pending the results of a related matter. Both cases concern whether the Commerce Department can deduct Section 232 duties from an antidumping duty respondent's U.S. price in the dumping margin calculations (Deacero S.A.P.I. de C.V. v. United States, Fed. Cir. #22-1486).
Companies have the right to judicially challenge an antidumping duty investigation's final determination even if it is subject to a suspension agreement, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a series of four opinions on April 14. The court issued the opinions together as they all pertain to the same antidumping investigation on Mexican tomatoes. While the appellate court sent the cases back establishing jurisdiction for the claims against the AD investigation's final determination, the court did dismiss some claims against the termination of a prior suspension agreement and the new suspension agreement.
The Court of International Trade has jurisdiction to hear challenges to the Commerce Department's final determination in antidumping cases subject to suspension agreements, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a series of four opinions issued April 14. Throughout the four cases, various U.S. and Mexican tomato producers challenged the final determination in the antidumping investigation into Mexican tomatoes, which was subject to an antidumping suspension agreement. The cases also challenged Commerce's withdrawal from a previous suspension agreement and the agency's decision to continue the antidumping investigation following this withdrawal.
The Commerce Department's decision not to grant exporter Ningbo Qixin a separate rate in an antidumping duty matter for not having any sales during the period of review "is logically inconsistent" since the agency is supposed to then rescind the antidumping review, the exporter told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in an April 12 opening brief. Ningbo Qixin also argued that the Court of International Trade improperly denied the appellant's motion to file new factual information out of time since "extenuating circumstances" warranted another shot to submit the information (Canadian Solar, et al. v. United States, Fed. Cir. #20-2162).
Trade Law Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. All articles can be found by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Three judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit probed the question of whether a group of U.S. steel companies, led by U.S. Steel Corp., could intervene in a spate of cases challenging the Commerce Department's decision to deny certain importers exclusions to Section 232 steel and aluminum duties. During an April 7 oral argument, Chief Judge Kimberly Moore and Judges Pauline Newman and Todd Hughes expressed serious doubt as to whether the steel companies could join the exclusion challenges (California Steel Industries v. United States, Fed. Cir. #21-2172).
The Commerce Department had to draw a line somewhere, and its use of a test to distinguish the production activities of producers and fabricators to determine industry support in antidumping duty and countervailing duty investigations on quartz surface products from India is in line with the law and prior court precedent, DOJ said in a reply brief filed April 6 with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Arguments from antidumping plaintiffs, led by Wilmar Trading, looking to invoke a recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit opinion on whether a particular market situation exists "significantly overstates" the case's relevance, DOJ said in an April 7 reply brief (Wilmar Trading PTE v. United States, CIT Consol. #18-00121).