EAPA Alleger Opposes Manufacturer's Right to Intervene in Importer's CIT Case

Dominican aluminum extrusion manufacturer Kingtom Aluminio SRL should not be allowed to intervene in a Court of International Trade case in which it is alleged to be involved in a transshipment scheme to avoid antidumping duties, the Enforce and Protect Act case alleger Ta Chen International said in a June 16 brief. Although it made the covered merchandise, Kingtom did not import it through evasion, Ta Chen said.

In the underlying EAPA investigation, CBP determined that importers Global Aluminum Distributor and Hialeah Aluminum Supply transshipped aluminum extrusions through Kingtom in the Dominican Republic. Global Aluminum and Hialeah claim that Kingtom was the original manufacturer (see 2104280049). Global Aluminum and Hialeah filed the CIT lawsuit after CBP made an affirmative finding of evasion.

According to Ta Chen, Kingtom is not a party to the EAPA investigation and not responsible for duty payments for the good. As such, it has "no protectable interest in those imports" and "Kingtom has not demonstrated that Plaintiffs -- as Kingtom’s customers -- fail to adequately represent the asserted interest."

In its motion to intervene, Kingtom claimed that Global Aluminum and Hialeah can't adequately represent its business interests since they don't have "first-hand knowledge" of its business practices and recordkeeping. "Even if true -- that seems doubtful given the arguments Plaintiffs made during the underlying investigation -- Kingtom misunderstands the nature of this action," Ta Chen responded: "The record of this proceeding is the administrative record developed during the underlying investigation. Neither Kingtom nor any other party may supplement that record with new information."