DOJ Defends Commerce's Affiliation Finding in AD Case on Brazilian Lemon Juice

The Commerce Department correctly found that lemon juice exporter Louis Dreyfus Co. (LDC) was not affiliated with its unnamed primary fresh lemon supplier and correctly applied a de minimis rate to LDC, DOJ said in its Nov. 1 reply brief at the Court of International Trade. The brief responded to antidumping duty petitioner Ventura's August motion for judgment (see 2308040029) (Ventura Coastal v. U.S., CIT # 23-00009).

Ventura's argument that Commerce only considered whether LDC was reliant on the supplier but failed to consider whether the supplier was reliant on LDC was raised for the first time at court, DOJ said. Because Ventura never raised the issue with Commerce, it should be barred from making that argument here under the exhaustion doctrine, DOJ argued. "The question of whether the supplier has become reliant on LDC is a highly fact-intensive inquiry and therefore is not a purely legal question," potentially subject to an exhaustion exemption, DOJ said.

Even if the court finds that Ventura didn't exhaust its administrative remedies, the petitioner's claim still should fail because Commerce specifically addressed whether the supplier was reliant on LDC. DOJ noted Commerce's finding that the “contractual terms between LDC and its supplier recognize the sovereignty of the parties and indicate no obligation toward each other" beyond those enumerated in the contract terms. That language "plainly addressed" the lack of reliance in both directions, DOJ said.

Similarly, Ventura only raised its argument concerning the temporal aspect of the relationship between LDC and its supplier for the first time before the court, DOJ said. There is no statutory requirement that Commerce explicitly discuss every piece of record evidence, DOJ said, meaning that simply because Commerce did not discuss certain temporal evidence does not mean that it failed to consider it, DOJ said. If the court addresses Ventura's temporal argument it could lead to the "absurd" result of making all Commerce findings of affiliation unlawful if Commerce doesn't address the temporal aspect of a relationship even when no party raises it as an issue.

Additionally, DOJ defended Commerce's cost of production and its general and administrative expense calculations. Commerce effectively showed how it calculated the material price difference for lemon fruit and relied on record evidence from the cost verification report.