The Court of International Trade sustained the International Trade Administration’s final antidumping duty determination in certain coated paper suitable for high-quality print graphics using sheet-fed presses from Indonesia (A-570-958) with respect to the Indonesian company Pindo Deli’s arguments that (i) the ITA improperly expanded the scope of the investigation to include multi-ply paper, and (ii) the ITA’s final determination is contrary to law because it rests on inadequate industry support.
Court of International Trade
The United States Court of International Trade is a federal court which has national jurisdiction over civil actions regarding the customs and international trade laws of the United States. The Court was established under Article III of the Constitution by the Customs Courts Act of 1980. The Court consists of nine judges appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate and is located in New York City. The Court has jurisdiction throughout the United States and has exclusive jurisdictional authority to decide civil action pertaining to international trade against the United States or entities representing the United States.
The Court of International Trade denied, without prejudice, the U.S. Government’s motion for default judgment against Country Flavor Corp. in the sum of $617,562.00 as a civil penalty for negligence, as well as $34,363.45 for lost revenue, for unpaid antidumping duties on 13 entries of frozen fish that Country Flavor imported from Vietnam in 2006. While the CIT ruled that, as Country Flavor defaulted and made no attempt to demonstrate that it acted with reasonable care, the Government demonstrated negligence, the CIT also ruled that the U.S. Government failed to provide a basis for determining either the appropriate amount of civil penalty to be imposed or the amount of antidumping duties that remained unpaid.
The Court of International Trade denied a motion by two Korean producer/exporters to amend a preliminary injunction against liquidation of entries of merchandise subject to the revoked antidumping duty order on diamond sawblades and parts thereof from Korea in order to permit liquidation of subject merchandise entered on or after the effective date of revocation of the order. In the same opinion, the CIT also allowed the domestic plaintiffs (Diamond Sawblades Manufacturing Coalition) to amend their complaint in the case, as the ITA’s final section 129 determination for diamond sawblades from Korea altered the effect of the results of the AD final determination at issue in the litigation.
The case of Estee Lauder vs. the U.S. was dismissed March 26 by the U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit. In the case, the Court of International Trade ruled January 4 against U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s motion to dismiss the case, ruling that the court has jurisdiction. The CIT said CBP should have sought the necessary factual evidence to evaluate the protest.
Gazebos imported from China and sold at Target stores should indeed be classified as gazebos, and not as tents subject to higher duties, the Court of International Trade ruled in a March 22 decision, overturning a Customs and Border Protection decision. The court cited numerous differences between temporary tents and more-permanent gazebos, and even referred to dictionary definitions. "The record evidence establishes without contradiction that plaintiff's merchandise herein is marketed, sold, assembled, displayed and enjoyed as gazebos, not as tents," said the opinion written by Senior Judge Thomas Aquilino.
Applikon’s Bioreactor Systems are correctly classified under subheading 8479.82.00, (free) Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTSUS), said the U.S. Court of International Trade in a decision March 28. The U.S. had moved for a rehearing of an earlier decision to correct what it said was “clear error” in the court’s decision.
An importer of Chinese high-strength galvanized finished steel tubing used in scaffolding appealed a decision by the Court of International Trade that upheld the inclusion of its products within the scope of the AD and CVD orders on circular welded carbon quality steel pipe from China. The importer, Constantine N. Polites & Co., had cited an exclusion for “finished scaffolding” in the AD and CV duty orders and claimed its merchandise was finished scaffolding. Following two CIT remands, the International Trade Administration provided evidence to show there were actual imports from China of “finished scaffolding” in kits, and that Polite’s merchandise was not of that type, i.e., was not “finished” and was covered by the orders.
The Court of International Trade denied domestic furniture producer Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc.'s motion to delay Byrd Amendment fund distributions from the antidumping (AD) order on wooden bedroom furniture from China for fiscal years 2007 through 2010. Ashley had sought an injunction on the distributions while it takes up to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit its challenge of the denial by the International Trade Commission to grant it “affected domestic producer” or ADP, under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Act of 2000 (“Byrd Amendment,” or “CDSOA“). (Ashley had not supported the AD petition, as required by the Byrd Amendment to qualify for distributions).
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned a decision by the Court of International Trade that had ruled an importer's antidumping duty entries were improperly “deemed liquidated’ by U.S. Customs and Border Protection while liquidation was suspended. According to the CAFC, all liquidations, whether legal or not, must be timely protested before litigation can occur.
The Court of International Trade dismissed a claim by NSK Corporation, the U.S. affiliate of a global ball bearings manufacturer based in Japan, challenged the constitutionality of the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (CDSOA or Byrd Amendment). NSK Corp. claimed that it was unlawfully denied affected domestic producer (ADP) status, which would have qualified it to receive distributions for fiscal years 2005-2007. .