A total of four hardwood plywood importers or exporters dropped their cases at the Court of International Trade contesting the Commerce Department's final results of the 2021-22 administrative review of the countervailing duty order on hardwood plywood products from China.
A petitioner was wrong that the trade court made "several cascading errors” in its motion remanding a scope ruling on dual-stenciled pipe by failing to consider two other cases, the U.S. and exporter Saha Thai Steel Pipe each said in reply briefs Dec. 2 (Saha Thai Steel Pipe Public Company v. United States, CIT # 21-00049).
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The Commerce Department unlawfully found that the South Korean government's provision of electricity for less than adequate remuneration (LTAR) was de facto specific based on heavy consumption by the chemical industry, exporter Kumho P&B Chemicals argued in a Dec. 2 motion for summary judgment at the Court of International Trade (Kumho P&B Chemicals v. United States, CIT Consol. # 25-00143).
The Commerce Department failed to adequately explain its treatment of costs needed to convert steel plates into wind towers in the 2021-22 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on utility scale wind towers from South Korea, the Court of International Trade held on Dec. 2. Judge Leo Gordon said the U.S. provided "inadequate" explanation of the decision to use respondent Dongkuk’s reported conversion costs instead of the costs reported by the petitioner, the Wind Tower Trade Coalition.
Mikki Cottet, a longtime DOJ attorney, is leaving the agency, according to a notice at the Court of International Trade. Cottet joined the agency in 1994 as a trial attorney in the international trade field office and has been a senior trial counsel since 2007. Speaking before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Dec. 1 during an oral argument, Cottet said "it has been an honor to practice before this court for the last 31 and a half years."
The following lawsuits were filed recently at the Court of International Trade:
In a Dec. 1 cross-motion for judgment, the U.S. said certain 2018 and 2019 cigarette entries imported by Scottsdale Tobacco didn’t qualify for a substitution of unused merchandise drawback because it hadn’t provided the necessary paperwork to prove its claim. Further, the government said, the drawback claim hadn’t automatically liquidated, either (see 2508250048) (Scottsdale Tobacco v. United States, CIT # 24-00022).
The Commerce Department abused its discretion in rejecting information submitted by countervailing duty respondent Ternium Mexico regarding three alleged subsidy programs in the CVD investigation on corrosion-resistant steel products, Ternium argued in a Nov. 26 complaint at the Court of International Trade (Ternium Mexico v. United States, CIT # 25-00236).
The Court of International Trade on Dec. 2 remanded the Commerce Department's treatment of the costs to convert steel plates into wind towers in the 2021-22 antidumping review of utility wind scale towers from South Korea. Judge Leo Gordon found that Commerce failed to adequately explain why it chose to accept respondent Dongkuk's reported conversion costs instead of the costs reported by the petitioner, the Wind Tower Trade Coalition. The judge rejected the government's "circular reasoning" that Dongkuk reported its conversion costs "based on its normal books and records," and the judge held that the agency didn't explain why the petitioner's costs analysis using the first control number characteristic, tower sections, is "inappropriate."