Domestic Tile Producer Visit Prior to CBP Scope Ruling Didn't Prejudice Result, US Says

A visit the Commerce Department made to a domestic tile manufacturer prior to a scope ruling on imported composite tile was proper and didn't bias Commerce in favor of the manufacturer in its final decision, DOJ said (Elysium Tiles v. U.S., CIT # 23-00041).

The U.S. and a defendant-intervenor responded Dec. 13 to Elysium Tile’s motion for judgment in a case regarding a final CBP scope ruling that found the company’s imported composite tiles fall within antidumping and countervailing duty orders on ceramic tiles from China.

Commerce said in its scope ruling that porcelain tiles with decorations fall under the AD/CV orders. Elysium’s tiles, which are porcelain with a visible marble layer, were not excluded because that marble layer was decorative, it said.

Elysium alleges that Commerce was biased in favor of a domestic tile manufacturer, Florida Tile, after the agency visited Florida Tile in an “exclusive” meeting during which officials toured their manufacturing plant and interviewed employees (see 2309060036). Commerce issued a memorandum documenting the visit six days after it toured Florida Tile.

Afterward, Commerce failed to provide Elysium with an adequate summary of the meeting, Elysium said. Commerce then denied a request to visit Elysium’s operation. Elysium hadn’t had the chance to rebut any information Florida Tile presented to Commerce about the manufacture of composite tiles during its visit, it said.

Commerce’s visit was lawful and its memorandum adequate, DOJ said. It said its scope ruling wasn't based on the visit, but rather on on-the-record evidence and arguments.

“Although Elysium speculates that the domestic producer provided ‘secret’ information at Commerce’s on-site visit, there is no indication that Commerce received information or argument that was not on the record when Commerce made its final scope ruling,” it said.

DOJ called Elysium’s claim insufficient because it was “merely speculative or unsubstantiated.”

It also said that even if Commerce’s visit had been a procedural irregularity, Elysium would have to prove as well that the visit materially prejudiced Commerce in its issuance of the scope order. Elysium hasn't done so, DOJ said.

Elysium also alleged that the memorandum purposefully lacked any information about Commerce officials’ and Florida Tile employees’ discussions about the process of manufacturing composite tile -- discussions that might have influenced Commerce in its upcoming scope ruling. DOJ said that information was absent because no such conversations took place.

Defendant-intervenor The Coalition for Fair Trade in Ceramic Tile, of which Florida Tile is a part, also filed against the motion for judgment from Elysium.

It said invoices between Elysium and its Chinese exporter, Foshan Dingli Ceramics Co., indicated even Elysium referred to the tiles as “porcelain.” Additional “minor” processing to add the marble layer to the porcelain tiles was specifically covered by the AD/CVD orders, it added.