The Court of International Trade on Sept. 18 sustained the Commerce Department's decision on remand to weight average zero percent and adverse facts available antidumping rates to set the rate for the non-individually examined respondents in the 2016-17 review of the AD order on multilayered wood flooring from China.
Importer Cozy Comfort Co. moved on Sept. 17 to exclude the testimony of sales and marketing lecturer Patricia Concannon regarding the tariff classification of The Comfy, a wearable blanket. The motion was issued ahead of a bench trial on the classification of the item (Cozy Comfort Company v. U.S., CIT # 22-00173).
The Commerce Department said on remand at the Court of International Trade that Germany's Konzessionsabgabenverordnung (KAV) program, which exempts from a fee gas and power pipeline companies that sell electricity below a certain price, isn't de facto specific. The fees would otherwise be passed on to consumers. Commerce made the finding on Sept. 17 after being instructed by the trade court to conduct a de facto specificity analysis (BGH Edelstahl Siegen v. U.S., CIT # 21-00080).
The U.S. and Kevin Ho, owner and director of importer Atria, have agreed to try and resolve a customs penalty action via stipulated judgment and are now working to negotiate a number Ho will pay, the parties said in a Sept. 16 status report. The development comes after Ho pleaded guilty in a parallel criminal proceeding in which he was sentenced to 18 months in prison (United States v. Chu-Chiang "Kevin" Ho, CIT # 19-00038).
Exporter ULMA Forja, S.Coop filed a complaint on Sept. 17 at the Court of International Trade to contest the Commerce Department's differential pricing analysis in the 2022-23 review of the antidumping duty order on finished carbon steel flanges from Spain (ULMA Forja, S.Coop v. United States, CIT # 24-00162).
The U.S. in a Sept. 13 brief defended the Commerce Department's finding that the South Korean government's provision of electricity was de facto specific and also its decision to countervail the full allotment of carbon emissions permits under the Korean cap-and-trade program in the 2021 review of the countervailing duty order on carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate from South Korea (POSCO v. United States, CIT # 24-00006).
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The Court of International Trade on Sept. 17 sent back the Commerce Department's use of a quarterly cost methodology to analyze exporter Officine Tecnosider's sales during the 2020-21 review of the antidumping duty order on steel plate from Italy to address "shortcomings" in its analysis.
The Court of International Trade on Sept. 18 sustained the Commerce Department's decision on remand to use a weighted average to set the antidumping rate for the non-individually examined respondents in the 2016-17 review of the AD order on multilayered wood flooring from China. The agency weight averaged the zero and adverse facts available rates given to the two mandatory respondents. Judge Richard Eaton said Commerce "followed the court's instructions on remand" by using a weighted average, which represents the "expected method" for determining the separate rate. The result was a 31.63% AD rate for the companies -- down from the original 42.57%.
The Court of International Trade will be closed Nov. 29 as part of its observation of Thanksgiving. Judge Mark Barnett made the announcement in an order on Sept. 13. Thanksgiving is Thursday, Nov. 28.