CIT Sustains Commerce's Treatment of Exporter as Mandatory Respondent on Remand in AD Suit

The Court of International Trade on March 26 sustained the Commerce Department's remand results in the 2020-21 antidumping duty review on hot-rolled steel flat products from Japan. Judge Stephen Vaden said that since no party contests the remand results, which were voluntarily requested by Commerce so the agency could treat exporter Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co. as a mandatory respondent, the case is upheld (Optima Steel International v. U.S., CIT # 23-00108).

Commerce issued its remand earlier this month, assigning Tokyo Steel a 5.2% AD rate (see 2403130029).

The agency asked for the remand following a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruling in YC Rubber Co. v. U.S., in which the court said that Commerce must use more than one mandatory respondent where multiple companies request review (see 2208290026). In the remand, Commerce conducted a full analysis of Tokyo Steel's U.S. and Japan sales to calculate the AD rate.