Commerce Swaps Model Match Hierarchy in AD Suit on Korean Superabsorbent Polymers

The Commerce Department reconsidered on remand its model match hierarchy in the antidumping duty investigation on superabsorbent polymers (SAP) from South Korea, opting to go with the hierarchy made of centrifugal retention capacity "in 6 g/g increments" it used in the investigation's preliminary determination but not in the final decision (The Ad Hoc Coalition of American SAP Producers v. United States, CIT # 23-00010).

The Court of International Trade sent back the model matching hierarchy in March, finding that the agency didn't justify the methodology with enough evidence and that it used unverified data from exporter LG Chem while also failing to address evidence from the petitioner that the methodology allowed for LG Chem to manipulate its AD margin (see 2403080064).

In the AD investigation, Commerce asked for information on SAP's general physical characteristics to define the control numbers that would identify identical or similar goods for comparison when calculating AD rates. The petitioner, the Ad Hoc Coalition of American SAP Producers, and LG Chem gave separate characteristic hierarchies, though both recognized that the main characteristic was the ability of SAP products to hold liquid, dubbed "centrifugal retention capacity," or "CRC."

CRC is measured in grams of saline solution retained per gram of SAP (g/g). The coalition argued for three g/g ranges, while LG Chem vied for five. Initially, Commerce rejected LG's proposal and only used CRC as the key SAP characteristic, dividing it into the three six g/g increment ranges. Following verification, the agency switched to LG Chem's proposed model match methodology, which split the goods into four increments of 4 g/g, and recalculated the exporter's AD margin using its alternative sales and cost files based on its volunteered CRC, permeability and absorbency under pressure characteristics. The result dropped LG Chem's rate from 28.74% to 17.64%.

The trade court said this hierarchy wasn't backed by substantial evidence, noting that the record "appears flawed," since it based the commercial significance of absorbency under pressure, permeability and four g/g CRC increments on a "relatively small set of unverified and mostly undated marketing materials."

On remand at the court, Commerce reverted to the hierarchy it used in its preliminary determination -- the six g/g increment ranges. The agency said there's "no information that would additionally support a finding that AUP, PERM, and LGC’s narrower CRC increments (4 g/g) are commercially significant such that they should be included in the model match hierarchy."

The result led to an AD margin increase for LG Chem, to 26.05%.