Commerce Drops Finding That PMS Exists in India for Steel Pipe Input on Remand at CIT
The Commerce Department in June 9 remand results filed at the Court of International Trade no longer found that a particular market situation existed in India regarding the price of hot-rolled coil. Making the switch under protest, Commerce said that since it found that a PMS no longer exists, the other remanded issues in the case are moot (Garg Tube Export v. United States, CIT #20-00026).
The case involves the 2017-18 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on welded carbon steel standard pipes and tubes (CWP) from India. Garg Tube Export, a mandatory respondent in the review, brought its case to CIT after Commerce made the PMS adjustment for hot-rolled coil, a key input for CWP and applied adverse facts available for the non-cooperation of an unaffiliated supplier. In the case's first opinion, Judge Claire Kelly remanded the PMS adjustment and use of partial AFA (see 2107210065).
On remand, Commerce switched its use of partial AFA to neutral facts available given that Garg didn't have the market power to make the unaffiliated supplier cooperate -- a position uncontested by all parties. The agency also dropped its PMS adjustment to the sales-below-cost test. Kelly sustained these positions but ruled against Commerce's remaining positions.
Commerce determined a PMS existed for HRC in India due to global steel overcapacity, the Indian government's trade interventions and Garg's nonpayment of antidumping and safeguard duties on HRC imports. In the case's second opinion, the judge said that in doing so, Commerce failed to show how these market phenomena gave rise to a unique set of facts distorting the cost of materials or other processing such that the respondent's cost of production isn't within the normal course of trade (see 2203230018).
On remand, Commerce dropped its position that a PMS existed for HRC in India. "While Commerce found in the Final Results that India’s specific response to the global steel overcapacity crisis (e.g., subsidization, imposition of trade remedies and exceptions thereto, etc.) gave rise to a PMS with respect to the price of hot-rolled coil in India, we acknowledge the Court’s holding that global excess capacity 'is not a unique market phenomenon,' nor are 'the existence of trade remedies and subsidies' and 'the exceptions to the imposition of trade remedies,'" the remand said. "Therefore, under respectful protest, we reconsidered our analysis in light of the Remand Order."
In the remand order, Kelly also sent back Commerce's regression analysis -- the means by which Commerce makes the PMS adjustment. Commerce said that since it no longer finds that a PMS exists, the issues raised by Kelly over the regression analysis are moot.