DOJ Misconstrued Review Standard of Scope Rulings at CIT, Exporter Argues

A horizontal lawnmower engine shouldn't have been included under the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on vertical shaft engines between 99cc and up to 225cc from China in a Commerce Department scope ruling because it was "clearly excluded" by the scope language, Zhejiang Amerisun Technology said in an Oct. 24 brief at the Court of International Trade (Zhejiang Amerisun Technology Co. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00011).

The motion came in support of Amerisun's July motion for judgment (see 2307100008), and argued that the government misconstrued the standard of review for scope determinations. DOJ focused the discussion of its September brief (see 2309210062) on the amount of deference Commerce was owed in conducting the scope inquiry and argues that the court cannot substitute its judgment for that of the agency’s where the choice is between “two fairly conflicting views.”

That argument ignores the fact that the court can choose a conflicting view where the agency’s judgment was unreasonable, Amerisun said. In this instance, Commerce’s finding that a horizontal shaft engine fell within the plain language of the scope that explicitly covers certain vertical shaft engines was obviously unreasonable, Amerisun said.

The government's position is "untenable" because of Commerce's unreasonable conclusion that a horizontal shaft engine was within the scope of orders covering certain vertical shaft engines, Amerisun said. The vertical transmission shaft that DOJ upholds as the "power takeoff shaft" is not a part of the engine, Amerisun said.

In its original February complaint, Amerisun argued that the engine's power mechanism was a "horizontal crankshaft ... rather than a vertical one." The scope "clearly and explicitly" applied only to vertical shaft engines and made "no mention of the existence of modified vertical shaft engines...," Amerisun argued (see 2302220031).