German Exporter to Take Case on Use of AFA to Federal Circuit

Exporters, led by Salzgitter Mannesmann Grobblech, will appeal a Court of International Trade decision sustaining the use of adverse facts available on Salzgitter's sales for which the company could not identify or report the manufacturer in the antidumping duty investigation on cut-to-length carbon and alloy steel plate from Germany. While the trade court upheld the Commerce Department's decision to use facts available in 2019, the court sent back the way Commerce used partial AFA in the investigation. The agency's decision was eventually sustained over Salzgitter's claim that the use of partial AFA was unreasonable or unlawful (see 2311160012). According to the notice of appeal, the companies will take their case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (AG der Dillinger Huttenwerke v. United States, CIT # 17-00158).