Commerce Accepts Exporter's Quality Code for Petroleum Transport, Raises AD Rate

The Commerce Department reconsidered its rejection of exporter AG der Dillinger Huttenwerke's proposed quality code for sour service petroleum transport on remand at the Court of International Trade. Submitting its redetermination on Sept. 7, the agency said it used the exporter's proposed quality code due to its decision in Bohler Bleche BMBH & Co. v. U.S., leading to an increase in Dillinger's dumping rate to 4.99% as part of the antidumping duty investigation on steel cut-to-length plate from Germany (AG der Dillinger Huttenwerke v. United States, CIT # 17-00158).

The trade court noted in its June opinion that Commerce's exact methodology was remanded by the court in Bohler, where CIT found that the agency failed to adequately account for the alloy content of specialized high alloy steel goods, thus failing to account for serious differences in physical characteristics, costs and price (see 2306230054). Judge Leo Gordon sent the case back so the opinion could be considered, given that it came out after the government readied its reply brief.

On remand, Dillinger proposed adding a new subfield to the existing quality product characteristic to set apart its sour service petroleum transport plate, used to make transport petroleum goods with high amounts of hydrogen sulfide, from other steels designated for the transport of petroleum products. The exporter gave "sales and cost information for products with its proposed quality code" showing its consistently higher net prices and costs, along with "documentation comparing the manufacturing of sour service petroleum transport plate to other steels designated specifically for the transport of petroleum products."

Commerce said the case was analogous to Bohler, wherein the respondent vied for a revision to the model-match hierarchy by adding two product characteristic fields to account for commercially significant physical differences.

"As a result, we reconsidered our rejection of Dillinger’s proposed quality code for sour service petroleum transport plate (i.e., 771) and have now included this quality code in the CONNUMs used in the margin calculations for Dillinger to account for commercially significant physical differences between sour service petroleum transport plate and other steels designated specifically for the transport of petroleum products," the brief said.