Petitioner Appeals CIT Ruling Excluding Shelf Dividers From Flexible Magnet AD/CVD Order

An antidumping and countervailing duty petitioner on Jan. 19 filed its opening brief in an appeal of the Court of International Trade’s September ruling that the Commerce Department correctly excluded an importer’s shelf dividers from AD/CVD orders on flexible magnets from China (Magnum Magnetics Corp. v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 24-1164).

Siffron, an importer of magnetic plastic shelf dividers, sought and received confirmation from Commerce in a scope ruling that its products were not covered by the orders in March 2022. In the ruling, Commerce found that the “plain language of the scope” appeared to cover the dividers, but referenced two prior rulings and an International Trade Commission report to exclude them, saying the ITC seemed to define “flexible magnets” as magnets incorporated into objects that could be “twisted, bent, or manipulated” without breaking, unlike the dividers.

Petitioner Magnum Magnetics argued that the “flexibility” designation was only intended to apply to the magnets themselves, not any other objects that might be combined with the magnets.

“Commerce, relying on InterDesign, extends the flexibility requirement to any other product to which the flexible magnet may be bonded. Such a conclusion is unsupported by the actual text,” Magnum Magnetics said.

All parties and CIT agree that Siffron’s products are described by the plain language of the order's scope, the petitioner said, describing the language as “unambiguous” (see 2309260049). Because the products don't fall into any exclusions in the order, they should be subject to the order’s AD/CVD rate, it said.