US Still Mulling Appeal AD Case on Use of Exporter's Data Over China-Wide Rate

The U.S. said it hasn't made a decision on whether to proceed with an appeal of a case brought by exporter Jilin Forest Industry Jinqiao Flooring Group on the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on multilayered wood flooring from China, it said in a third extension request for the filing of its opening brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The government said its notice of appeal was "protective," and it needs more time to "complete and finalize" the process for determining whether to "authorize" the appeal (Jilin Forest Industry Jinqiao Flooring Group v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 23-2245).

The motion went unopposed, and the court granted the motion Jan. 3. The appellate court gave the U.S. until Jan. 18 to file the opening brief. The government also said it needed more time to draft the opening brief, partly because of the counsel's upcoming filings in various cases at the Federal Circuit and the Court of Federal Claims.

The Court of International Trade sustained the Commerce Department's remand results in June after the agency dropped the dumping rate for Jilin Forest to zero (see 2306120023). On remand, the agency dropped the presumption the Chinese government controlled Jilin Forest after the court questioned whether Commerce could disregard a mandatory respondent's own data in favor of the countrywide nonmarket economy rate (see 2305040061).

Counsel for Jilin Forest initially suggested that an appeal would be unlikely since it would open up further scrutiny of Commerce's NME policy in AD reviews.