Commerce Finds Diamond Sawblades From Chinese and Non-Chinese Parts Not Subject to AD Duties

Diamond sawblades made by Protech in Canada from a core and segments each of Chinese and non-Chinese origin are not subject to antidumping duties on diamond sawblades from China (A-570-900), but some are covered by duties nonetheless due to Protech’s partial ineligibility for making the required certifications, the Commerce Department said in a scope ruling issued April 27.

CBP had requested the scope ruling as part of an Enforce and Protect Act investigation into allegations that Gogo International is transshipping subject sawblades through Canada. Some of the sawblades at issue in the case were also the subject of an anticircumvention inquiry that found Chinese cores and segments joined by Protech in Canada are circumventing duties and should be subject to AD/CVD.

Importantly, Commerce’s anti-circumvention inquiry did not extend to Protech sawblades with either a non-Chinese core or segment, but because Commerce judged Protech incapable of distinguishing between inputs, it said Protech could not certify that any sawblades had non-Chinese parts, rendering all Protech sawblades subject to AD duties. Commerce subsequently issued the final results of a changed circumstances review that found Protech could certify non-dutiability of its sawblades with Chinese cores and non-Chinese segments. The changed circumstances review also found Gogo affiliated with Protech, applying the earlier anti-circumvention determination to Gogo.

In the scope ruling, Commerce examined three scenarios: sawblades made by Protech in Canada from Chinese cores and segments; sawblades made by Protech in Canada from Chinese cores and non-Chinese segments; and sawblades made by Protech in Canada from non-Chinese cores and Chinese segments. Commerce found the first scenario directly addressed by its prior anti-circumvention inquiry, and determined a scope ruling was not necessary.

For the sawblades with either non-Chinese cores or segments, Commerce found they are not covered by the scope of the AD duty order. The agency based its decision on a scope decision from 2005 during the original antidumping duty investigation on diamond sawblades from South Korea, which found the country of origin for completed diamond sawblades was the location where the diamond sawblade was manufactured from a core and segments.

However, while as a result of the changed circumstances review Protech and Gogo may submit certifications that the sawblades made in Canada from Chinese cores and non-Chinese segments are not covered by AD duties, that is not the case for the sawblades made from non-Chinese cores and Chinese segments. As a result, although they are not subject to the AD duty order on diamond sawblades from China, Protech and Gogo must still pay AD duties on such merchandise, Commerce said.