CAFC OKs ITA Value, Expense Data in Viet Fish AD Review

In the August 2006 -- July 2007 AD administrative review of certain frozen fish fillets from Vietnam, the International Trade Administration valued whole pangas fish (retailed as catfish) at 98 Bangladeshi Takas per kilogram, based on a 2000-2001 financial statement of a Bangladeshi producer, adjusted for inflation. The ITA found that other, more recent price sources were unsuitable or had not yet been sufficiently vetted, including a Food & Agriculture Organization price survey that cited a much lower average value. Vietnamese producer QVD Food Co., Ltd. challenged the ITA’s choice of surrogate values for fish and its calculation of expense ratios.

However, both the Court of International Trade and now, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit as well, upheld the ITA’s decision not to adopt the FAO price data, though it used it in later reviews; both courts also dismissed the expense ratio complaint as untimely. (See ITT’s Online Archives or 01/05/10 news, 10091720, for BP summary of earlier CIT decision) (Appeal #2010-1541, dated 09/12/11)