Preserved Garlic Doesn't Belong Under Scope of AD Order on Chinese Garlic, Importer Claims

Importer Marcatus QED filed a complaint on June 13 at the Court of International Trade, claiming that the Commerce Department erred in finding that the company's shipments of preserved garlic in brine fell within the scope of the antidumping duty order on fresh garlic from China (Marcatus QED v. United States, CIT # 24-00091).

Marcatus said that Commerce improperly found that the "nature of the preservation process applied to" the company's garlic was "only provisional." The importer said this finding is at odds with the record and rests mainly on the "language associated with the relevant tariff subheading and not a full analysis of the record." The preservation process should have separated its garlic from subject garlic under the order, the brief claimed.

The agency also erred in finding that the "addition of salt and citric acid performed by Marcatus’ supplier was not preservation through the addition of other ingredients." The importer said the addition of salt and citric acid during the fermentation process should have removed it from the scope of the AD order.

Lastly, Marcatus challenged Commerce's "finding that the blanching performed by Marcatus’ supplier does not qualify as heat treating within the meaning of the scope language." The importer said the agency relied on prior scope decisions on this issue instead of an investigation of the record before it.