CIT Upholds Commerce's Liquidation Instructions That Fixed Error in AD Respondent's Name

The Commerce Department properly fixed an error in its liquidation instructions, the Court of International Trade said in a Dec. 17 opinion sustaining the agency's remand results in an antidumping review. Fixing the name of one of the mandatory respondents that received its own rate in the review, Commerce's remand allowed the respondent -- Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co. -- to receive the proper rate on its entries.

The opinion comes in a case over an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain hot-rolled steel flat products from Japan. Tokyo Steel brought the case along with its importer of record, Optima Steel International. In the review, Tokyo Steel received its own individual rate, resulting in Commerce issuing instructions for CBP to liquidate Tokyo Steel's entries at that rate. But in these instructions, Commerce used the nickname of an unaffiliated Japanese trading company, leading Tokyo Steel to not get the rate it was entitled to.

To fix the error, Commerce moved to voluntarily remand the case, admitting to the mistake. This led the agency to submit confidential liquidation instructions to the trade court, appearing to fix the issue (see 2110180025). All parties urged the court to sustain the remand results, which it did in its Dec. 17 opinion.

(Optima Steel International v. U.S., Slip Op. 21-168, CIT #21-00327, dated 12/17/21, Chief Judge Mark Barnett. Attorneys: Daniel Porter of Curtis Mallet-Prevost for plaintiffs; Hardeep Josan for defendant U.S. government)