Meyer Corp. to Appeal CIT Decision Denying First Sale on Imported Cookware

Meyer Corporation will appeal a Court of International Trade decision (see 2302090053) denying the use of first sale on Meyer's cookware imports, the company said in a notice. The case concerns first sale treatment of sets of imported pots and pans from a Thai producer and Chinese middleman related to Meyer (Meyer Corporation v. United States, CIT # 13-00154).

CIT in 2021 initially questioned the use of first sale valuation for all imports coming from countries with a non-market economy using a definition from antidumping duty proceedings (see 2103020040). On appeal, the Federal Circuit ruled that CBP has no basis to consider a country's non-market economy status when deciding whether to grant first sale treatment to a given import (see 2208110060). The case was sent back to CIT so that the trade court could figure out whether to grant first sale treatment to Meyer's imports. CIT Judge Thomas Aquilino said that, because the court doesn't know the extent to which parent company Meyer Holdings had the ability to influence the price paid for the goods sold between affiliates, due to the company's failure to submit its financial information, the use of first sale wasn't supported.