Chinese Xanthan Gum Exporter Blasts 'Draconian' ADD Rate at Trade Court

The Commerce Department improperly applied adverse facts available to antidumping duty adminstrative review respondent Xinjiang Meihua Amino Acid Co. since the agency failed to notify the respondent that there was a deficiency in its responses, Meihua said in an April 6 complaint at the Court of International Trade. As a result of using AFA, Commerce hit Meihua with a 154.07% dumping margin -- a rate dubbed "draconian" by the plaintiffs (Meihua Group International Trading (Hong Kong) Limited v. United States, CIT #22-00069).

Meihua, along with Meihua Group International Trading (Hong Kong), contested Commerce's 2019-20 administrative review of the AD order on xanthan gum from China. In the review, Commerce said that Meihua withheld requested information, including the unit amount of customs duties paid on the subject merchandise. The respondent said in the complaint that it did no such thing and that the duties were reported.

As a result, Meihua argued that the application of AFA was unlawful. "Commerce failed to notify Meihua that it believed there was a deficiency in its responses to Commerce’s requests for information, as required by 19 U.S.C. § 1677m(d) or to give Meihua an opportunity to remedy any deficiency identified by Commerce," the brief said. "To the extent any information necessary to Commerce’s calculation of Meihua’s antidumping duty margin, Commerce could only resort to neutral facts available as it was not authorized to resort to AFA."