Commerce Properly Found Steel Branch Outlets Outside of Scope for Pipe Fittings Order, Brief Says

The Commerce Department properly found that importer Vandewater International Inc.'s steel branch outlets are covered by the scope of the antidumping duty order on carbon steel butt-weld pipe fittings from China, Island Industries told the Court of International Trade in a Jan. 21 brief. Vandewater's and plaintiff-intervenors Sigma Corporation's and Smith-Cooper International's arguments over any differences between their steel branch outlets and BWPF are "factually inconsequential," the brief said (Vandewater International v. United States, CIT #18-00199).

In October 2020, CIT issued an opinion striking down a then-2-year-old scope finding that Vandewater's steel branch outlets used in fire protection systems are subject to AD duties on BWPF from China (see 2010190031). The court found that Commerce failed to adequately explain itself, relying mostly on a previous scope ruling that doesn't fully address the issue. Upon reconsideration, Commerce continued to find that Vandewater's steel branch outlets fall within the scope of the ADD order. The agency held that the physical characteristics, or the "(k)(2)" characteristics, of the steel branch outlets are similar to the characteristics of the butt-weld pipe fittings (see 2107260042).

Vandewater and Sigma said that Commerce mischaracterized and disregarded key record evidence in the remand, citing three shortcomings: consideration of industry standards, lack of discussion on the expert report of Walter Sperko, and relevance of the contoured edge of the steel weld outlets, "a fundamental physical characteristic of steel weld outlets" (see 2110040034).

"Plaintiff and Plaintiff-Intervenors continue to raise alleged differences between their 'steel branch outlets' and carbon steel butt-weld pipe fittings ('BWPF') that are legally and, even if true, factually inconsequential, and do not change the fact that their steel branch outlets are 'sufficiently similar' to the products unambiguously covered by the antidumping duty order on BWPF from the People’s Republic of China," Island Industries said.

On remand, Commerce looked at each of the five (k)(2) factors and considered all interested parties' comments. "Furthermore, Commerce discussed why, based on record information, it disagreed with Vandewater’s, SCI’s and SIGMA’s arguments regarding the alleged purported differences between steel branch outlets and other BWPFs, and why such distinctions failed to establish that the steel branch outlets are not similar to unambiguously covered BWPFs," the brief said.