Commerce Asks CIT for Voluntary Remand to Reconsider Use of Descartes Data in Ocean Freight Benchmark

The Commerce Department asked the Court of International Trade for a voluntary remand on Dec. 11 in a countervailing duty case so it can reconsider or further explain its calculations for the ocean freight benchmark in light of a recent CIT ruling questioning the use of Descartes data. The present suit concerns the 2021 administrative review of the CVD order on solar products from China in which Commerce only used Descartes data to set the benchmark, prompting the case from solar cell exporters, led by Trina Solar (Changzhou) Science & Technology Co. (Trina Solar (Changzhou) Science & Technology Co. v. United States, CIT # 23-00219).

In a separate matter on the 2017 administrative review of the CVD order on solar cells, the court was concerned about whether the Descartes data was appropriate to use to set a world market price when data from Xeneta gave global routes as compared with Descartes' U.S. focus (see 2312080027). The court also was worried about the Descartes data since it "appeared to be sourced from limited samples based on the data's tariff and freight forwarder codes, was for less than a container load, and some of the routes were from inland American cities, which could incur additional fees."

While the present case concerns a different review period and CVD order, Commerce said that its decision "did not adequately address the concerns that the Court articulated" in the separate matter. As a result, a voluntary remand is appropriate, the brief said, noting the consent of the plaintiffs.