The Court of International Trade on Aug. 28 rejected the motions for judgment from both importer HyAxiom and the government on the proper classification of PC50 supermodules, which are a part of a stationary hydrogen fuel cell generator. Judge Timothy Stanceu said the court must first resolve whether the goods fit under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8405, which cover gas or water gas generators and is the heading preferred by HyAxiom. The judge said the court must determine whether the PC50's "primary function" is as a gas or water gas generator -- something neither party has sufficiently answered. As a result, both parties' summary judgment motions were denied.
The Commerce Department on remand at the Court of International Trade lowered the dumping margin for exporter Apiario Diamante Comercial Exportadora, known as Supermel, from an 83.72% adverse facts available rate to a 10.52% mark. The agency made the switch in the AD investigation on raw honey from Brazil after incorporating the court's finding that Supermel's failure to reconcile its costs with its beekeeper suppliers' costs was immaterial to the calculation of the AD rate (Apiario Diamante Comercial Exportadora v. United States, CIT # 22-00185).
The U.S. and importer Greenlight Organic, along with its owner Parambir Singh "Sonny" Aulakh, agreed to settle a customs fraud suit, the pair said in a joint status report at the Court of International Trade Aug. 23. No details of the settlement were provided, and counsel for Greenlight didn't immediately respond to a request for comment (United States v. Greenlight Organic, CIT # 17-00031).
The U.S. and importer Fanuc Robotics America said they hope to reach an agreement on the final two models of robots at issue in a customs spat after agreeing to settle the classification battle over the remaining models of robots covered by the case. Submitting a joint status report on Aug. 26, the government and importer said they "arranged for the exchange of technical information" on the two models for CBP's review, but the information will need to be sent again because DOJ didn't receive it. The information should be exchanged by Sept. 4, the report said. The parties said they are "hopeful that they will be able to reach an agreement in principle on the final two models of robots and avoid the need for litigation" (Fanuc Robotics America v. United States, CIT # 12-00052).
Vietnam Finewood Co. and Far East American dropped their case at the Court of International Trade challenging CBP's premature liquidation of hardwood plywood entries subject to an Enforce and Protect Act investigation. In a status report filed earlier this month, the companies said they received "partial refunds" and that the rest of the money at issue is "caught up in issues that have caused extraordinary delays not involved with the merits of the appeal or CBP's apparent willingness to work" with the companies to "ultimately effect the refunds in total" (Vietnam Finewood Co. v. United States, CIT # 20-00155).
A new Vietnamese frozen fish fillet exporter didn’t actually make a bona fide sale in the U.S. during the period of a new shipper antidumping review, a domestic trade group said Aug. 23 (Catfish Farmers of America v. U.S., CIT # 24-00126).
Conservation groups Sea Shepherd New Zealand and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit seeking an import ban on fish from New Zealand's West Coast North Island inshore trawl and set net fisheries under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (Sea Shepherd New Zealand v. U.S., CIT # 20-00112).
The U.S. told the Court of International Trade on Aug. 23 that exporter Hoshine Silicon (Jia Xing) Industry Co. doesn't have statutory or constitutional standing to challenge CBP's denial of the company's request to remove it from a withhold release order (WRO) on silica-based products made by its parent company Hoshine Silicon and its subsidiaries (Hoshine Silicon (Jia Xing) Industry Co. v. United States, CIT # 24-00048).
Responding to motions for judgment filed by the government of Canada and Canadian lumber exporters led by a mandatory respondent, the U.S. pushed back Aug. 22 against claims that, among other things, it had wrongly included a legacy contract in the calculation of the respondent’s costs and found a “bookkeeping convenience” to be evidence of less-than-fair-value transactions between its affiliates (see 2404110063) (Government of Canada v. United States, CIT Consol. # 23-00187).
The U.S. on Aug. 21 defended its decision on remand to collapse respondent Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy with its affiliated wind tower supplier Windar and Windar's manufacturing subsidies. The government also defended its finding that Siemens Gamesa is a foreign producer and the ultimate 28.55% dumping rate assigned to the company, which was lowered on remand from 73% (see 2406250029) (Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy v. United States, CIT # 21-00449).