CBP and the Commerce Department engaged in several abuses of discretion in a prolonged Enforce and Protect Act investigation into alleged evasion of hardwood plywood, InterGlobal Forest (IGF) said in an Aug. 17 complaint at the Court of International Trade. IGF contests a January EAPA decision that found evidence of evasion and the June decision by CBP's Office of Regulations and Rulings that affirmed it (InterGlobal Forest v. United States, CIT # 22-00240).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruling to overturn a Court of International Trade decision that called into question the use of first sale treatment for imported goods involving non-market economy countries (see 2208110060) is largely seen as providing a welcome relief to importers, several law firms said. "For those importers enjoying the benefits of lower declared values and duties, particularly from China in light of Section 301 tariffs, there is no longer a need for concern now that, on appeal, the court has given first sale a nod," Sandler Travis lawyer Lenny Feldman said on a podcast. The original CIT decision (Meyer Corporation v. U.S., Fed. Cir. #21-1392) raised some concerns for the future of first sale treatment (see 2104200028).

The Court of International Trade on Aug. 18 upheld the Commerce Department’s decision to apply facts available to production costs for a French steel plate exporter unable to distinguish between costs for its prime and non-prime merchandise, but again remanded the agency’s determination to use sales prices as a stand-in.

The Court of International Trade on Aug. 18 dismissed a lawsuit filed by the maker of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps and other importers to challenge an Enforce and Protect Act determination that they evaded antidumping duties on xanthan gum from China. The trade court found the soapmaker, All One God Faith, as well as another importer did not file suit under jurisdiction provisions for denied protests, and so could not overcome the erroneous liquidation of their entries by CBP.

The Commerce Department erred in using a period of review-wide allocation for the certification expenses of Thai exporter Sahamitr Pressure Container (SMPC), SMPC said in an Aug. 16 motion for judgment at the Court of International Trade (Sahamitr Pressure Container v. United States, CIT #22-00107).

The Commerce Department did give a Chinese cabinet exporter a fair chance when it continued to rely on adverse facts available despite a court order that invalidated the agency’s original reasoning for the AFA rate, the exporter said in an Aug. 15 brief opposing Commerce’s remand results (Dalian Meisen Woodworking v. U.S., CIT # 20-00109).

A Commerce Department scope ruling improperly found that two-ply hardwood plywood falls under the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on hardwood plywood from China, plaintiffs Vietnam Finewood, Far East American and Liberty Woods said in an Aug. 16 motion at the Court of International Trade (Vietnam Finewood Company Ltd. v. U.S., CIT #22-00049).

The Court of International Trade on Aug. 18 dismissed a lawsuit filed by the maker of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps and other importers to challenge an Enforce and Protect Act determination that they evaded antidumping duties on xanthan gum from China. The trade court found the soapmaker, All One God Faith, as well as another importer did not file suit under jurisdiction provisions for denied protests, and so could not overcome the erroneous liquidation of their entries by CBP.

The Court of International Trade on Aug. 18 upheld the Commerce Department’s decision to apply facts available to production costs for a French steel plate exporter unable to distinguish between costs for its prime and non-prime merchandise, but again remanded the agency’s determination to use sales prices as a stand-in. Ruling on remand results filed by Commerce in response a Federal Circuit decision on its AD duty investigation on carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate from France, the trade court found Commerce did not adequately explain its continued reliance on sales data for the non-prime plate, which are rejects from the production process that aren’t up to standard. CIT did agree with Commerce that the agency may rely on facts available because Dillinger’s lack of data on production costs for producing the non-prime plate affects how costs are allocated for all of the exporter’s merchandise.

Adverse facts available applied to Hyundai's reporting of parts in an antidumping duty administrative review on Korean power transformers are still warranted despite a previous court remand, the Commerce Department said in the results of a remand published Aug. 15 (Hyundai Electric & Energy Systems Co. v. United States, CIT #20-00108). Commerce said that although facts available are not justifiable with respect to Hyundai’s reporting of parts and components, it will still apply total adverse facts available to Hyundai.