Section 232 Exclusion Case Different From Others, Commerce Says in Voluntary Remand Request

The Commerce Department filed Oct. 25 for a voluntary remand of a Section 232 exclusion case with the consent of the counsel for the plaintiff, importer CPW America Co., at the Court of International Trade. Finding that the remand would expedite the case's resolution, Commerce said that because the case involves only one exclusion request, the agency would be able to reconsider the exclusion within the standard 90-day remand period (CPW America Co. v. United States, CIT #21-00335).

The dispute involves CPW's exclusion request, filed in January 2020, on a single product -- a type of welded line pipe used for a "reel-lay" installation method for an offshore, subsea pipeline project. A "single domestic industry producer, IPSCO Koppel Tubulars, LLC," objected to the request, Commerce said. In its complaint at CIT, CPW argued that, contrary to IPSCO Koppel's contention, it properly showed that no domestic pipe mills are capable of making this product to the requisite technical specification for offshore reel-lay applications, and that national security is served by these imports (see 2107200030).

CPW's exclusion request was denied in July 2020. The importer later filed for a second Section 232 exclusion request in October 2020, which wasn't met with an objection, and thus granted. "CPW suggests that Commerce’s approval of the second exclusion request for the same product reveals that Commerce’s earlier denial was improper," the remand motion said. Commerce found that the remand differs from other Section 232 cases in that it involves only a single exclusion request and makes case-specific assertions unlike those in other pending cases.