AD/CVD Court Decisions In Second Half of March 2010

The following antidumping or countervailing duty law determinations of the Court of International Trade (CIT) and/or the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) were decided in the second half of March 2010.

Failure to Serve CBP injunction Results in “Deemed Liquidation” of Entries

Three Chinese exporters of heavy forged hand tools obtained an injunction against liquidation following their AD administrative review for the period February 1, 2004 through January 31, 2005, but failed to properly serve copies of the court order on the necessary officials at U.S. Customs and Border Protection as instructed by the court, resulting in the entries’ “deemed liquidation” at the rate in effect at time of entry. The CIT dismissed a suit by domestic producer Ames True Temper seeking reliquidation at the higher rate the ITA calculated, for lack of jurisdiction. Ames True Temper v. U.S., dated March 30, 2010, available at http://www.cit.uscourts.gov/slip_op/Slip_op10/10-33.pdf

CIT Dismisses “Bond Insufficiency” Claims Against Sureties for AD New Shipper China Crawfish, Garlic, Etc.

Domestic producers of honey, mushrooms, garlic and crawfish sued the U.S. government and multiple import surety bond providers, claiming that in antidumping new shipper reviews, U.S. Customs and Border Protection failed to collect and redistribute to domestic parties the correct amounts of AD duties, and the insurers failed to collect sufficient bond guarantees. The CIT dismissed the claims against the surety providers, but withheld a decision on the claims against the government. Sioux Honey Association et al. v. U.S. et al., dated March 26, 2010, available at http://www.cit.uscourts.gov/slip_op/Slip_op10/10.31.pdf

ITA to Consider Critical Circumstances Again in Chinese Honey Investigation

The ITA’s finding of critical circumstances in its investigation of honey from China, in the period January 1 through June 30, 2000, was rejected by the CAFC on the grounds that a suspension agreement prevented importers from having “imputed knowledge” that dumping margins of 25% or were occurring. Now, the CIT has accepted the argument of the domestic producers that critical circumstances can be determined using another period, and has ordered the ITA to reconsider its finding. Zhejiang Native Produce & Animal By-Products Import & Export Corp, et al., v. U.S., dated March 24, 2010, available at http://www.cit.uscourts.gov/slip_op/Slip_op10/10-30.pdf

Steel Wire Rod from Trinidad and Tobago to Get Third ITC Injury Test

With evident exasperation, the CIT relayed a second remand order from the CAFC to require the International Trade Commission to assess for a third time its injury determination for steel wire rod from Trinidad and Tobago. Under a prior remand, the ITC reversed its injury determination of October 2000. Mittal Steel Point Lisas Limited v. U.S. at al., dated March 29, 2010, available at http://www.cit.uscourts.gov/slip_op/Slip_op10/10-32.pdf