Reconsideration of Dismissed AD Case Would Be 'Simply Re-Litigation,' Intervenor Says

Ellwood City Forge Company is attempting to relitigate a case without offering anything new through its bid for reconsideration at the Court of International Trade, defendent-intervenor Metalcam said in a July 29 opposition brief (Ellwood City Forge Company, et al. v. United States, CIT #21-00073).

Ellwood filed for a reconsideration of a June 14 CIT opinion that found that the company failed to exhaust its administrative remedies when challenging the Commerce Department's decision to issue a questionnaire in lieu of on-site verification due to COVID-19 travel restrictions(see 2207150049).

The case concerns the antidumping duty investigation on forged steel fluid end blocks from Italy. During that investigation, Commerce did not conduct on-site verification due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Ellwood City challenged the lack of verification at CIT (see 2201200032). The government argued that since Ellwood City failed to raise this question during the investigation, the matter should be dismissed. Judge Stephen Vaden agreed, dismissing the case (see 2206140044).

Ellwood's motion for reconsideration is merely an attempt to relitigate the case, Metalcam said. The case doesn't merit reconsideration because its arguments had been addressed in the dismissal opinion. Ellwood points to the ultimate remand determination made by Commerce as a reason for reconsideration, but that justifies an "entirely separate lawsuit" rather than a rehashing of issues already ruled on, Metalcam said.