CIT Sustains Lower CVD Rate for Chinese Ribbon Exporter

The Court of International Trade on Aug. 5 sustained the Commerce Department's decision to lower the countervailing duty subsidy rate for exporter Yama Ribbons and Bows Co. related to China's Export Buyer's Credit Program, from 10.54% to 0.87%. The result is a final, recalculated 22.2% total subsidy rate for Yama in the 2017 administrative review of the CVD order on narrow woven ribbons from China.

Judge Timothy Stanceu said the agency's decision complies with the court's previous decision.

The trade court previously remanded Commerce's use of a 10.54% CVD rate for the EBCP, which was taken from the CVD rate on preferential lending rates to China's coated paper industry (see 2404100074). Stanceu said there wasn't enough evidence on which the court could find that the coated paper lending rates program was similar enough to the EBCP, which would justify using the lending rates CVD margin for the EBCP.

On remand, the agency said it revisited its third step of the the "CVD AFA hierarchy," in which Commerce applies the highest non-de minimis rate for an identical or similar program in another CVD program involving the same country. Commerce based Yama's EBCP rate on the subsidy rate for the Export Seller's Credit Program in a CVD proceeding on Chinese chlorinated isocyanurates (see 2406100046). The agency said this program is similar to the EBCP because both "confer the same type of benefit."

(Yama Ribbons and Bows Co. v. U.S., Slip Op. 24-89, CIT # 20-00059, dated 08/05/24; Judge: Timothy Stanceu; Attorneys: Lizbeth Levinson of Fox Rothschild for plaintiff Yama Ribbons and Bows; Kara Westercamp for defendant U.S. government; Daniel Pickard of Buchanan Ingersoll for defendant-intervenor Berwick Offray)