The U.S. Supreme Court on June 28 overturned a foundational decision in administrative law, Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, which established the principle of deferring to federal agencies' interpretations of ambiguous statutes. In a 6-3 decision, split along ideological lines, the majority said courts "must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority," as required by the Administrative Procedure Act. The court's decision is expected to affect international trade matters, and could lead the Court of International Trade and Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to take a more active role in settling issues in trade remedies cases (see 2401180060).
The Court of International Trade in a June 18 opinion made public June 26 sustained the Commerce Department's decision to pick a second mandatory respondent in an AD review of passenger vehicle and light truck tires from China, following a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decision saying the agency couldn't use just one. Judge Mark Barnett said that Commerce reasonably said it could look at two respondents, despite the temporal limitations on going back and picking another. However, the court remanded Commerce's method of picking the respondent, remanding the agency's decision to leave exporter Shandong Linglong Tyre Co. off the list. Barnett also remanded Commerce's rejection of various companies' requests for separate rate status.
The Court of International Trade, in a June 13 decision made public June 24, sustained the Commerce Department's second review of the antidumping duty order on hot-rolled steel from Australia. Judge Richard Eaton said Commerce found that exporter BlueScope Steel (AIS) didn't reimburse its affiliated U.S. importer, BlueScope Steel Americas, for antidumping duties, heavily basing this conclusion on an identical U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decision issued in April. Eaton also said Commerce properly declined to make an additional deduction for the constructed export price profit.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on June 21 sustained the Commerce Department's final affirmative determination in a countervailing duty investigation on utility scale wind towers from Canada, in which respondent Marmen Energy received a 1.18% CVD rate. Judges Alan Lourie, Sharon Prost and Jimmie Reyna said that because errors were identified in Marmen's year-end exchange rate adjustment to the sales denominator, Commerce appropriately refused to use Marmen's adjustment. The court also held that Commerce adequately countervailed three different subsidy programs.
The Court of International Trade on June 20 sustained the International Trade Commission's five-year sunset review of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on hot-rolled steel from Turkey. Exporter Erdemir claimed that the ITC's finding that injury would likely recur if the orders went away was invalid because later developments rendered the underlying injury determination invalid. Judge Gary Katzmann rejected this claim, saying the original injury finding "remains a final and binding agency action." The judge noted that the finality of unrevoked administrative decisions is "particularly important in the trade context" because of the need for "beacons of certainty."
The Court of International Trade in a June 10 decision made public June 18 dismissed importer Greentech Energy Solutions' Section 1581(i) challenge to the assessment of antidumping and countervailing duties on its solar cells for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Greentech imported solar cells from Vietnam but was hit with AD/CVD on Chinese solar cells, protesting the decision. The protest was suspended once the importer brought the present case, which challenged the imposition of the AD/CVD under Section 1581(i), the court's "residual" jurisdiction. Judge Mark Barnett said remedy under Section 1581(a), as a challenge to a CBP decision, was not "manifestly inadequate" because the agency has a role in addressing the importer's claims. The court said "it appears that CBP reasonably intended to resolve Greentech’s claims during the protest proceeding," giving the importer a "bona fide opportunity to avoid liability."
The Court of International Trade on June 11 sustained the Commerce Department's use of a cost-based particular market situation in an AD case on Indonesian biodiesel regarding Indonesian crude palm oil, the main input in biodiesel, due to an Indonesian export levy on crude palm oil. Judge Richard Eaton previously remanded the issue for Commerce to explain how the PMS doesn't amount to a "double remedy" given the companion countervailing duties on the export levy. The judge sustained the agency's explanation that since neither normal value nor U.S. price was affected by the levy, no double remedy exists.
The Court of International Trade on June 10 sustained the antidumping and countervailing duty evasion finding against importer Phoenix Metal for transshipping cast iron soil pipe from China through Cambodia. Judge Jane Restani said that CBP supported its finding with a wealth of evidence and that the agency's finding that Phoenix had some production capacity in Cambodia isn't enough to sink the evasion determination. Restani also rejected a host of due process claims made by Phoenix, though the court said a plaintiff could show that lasting harm was suffered by CBP's failure to provide notice of the establishment of interim measures. However, Phoenix failed to make this showing in the present case.
The Court of International Trade on June 5 remanded the Commerce Department's surrogate value picks for the main factors of production, labor and by- and co-products of Vietnamese catfish in the 16th review of the AD order on the frozen fish fillets from Vietnam. Regarding the labor data, Judge M. Miller Baker said Commerce can't overlook issues with the Indian data it used simply due to its preference for using surrogate values from one country. However, the court sustained Commerce's choice of Indian financial statements over Indonesian financial statements.
The Court of International Trade on May 31 sustained parts and remanded parts of the Commerce Department's antidumping duty investigation on mobile access equipment from China. Judge M. Miller Baker sent back Commerce's surrogate value data on ocean-shipping costs for respondent Zhejiang Dingli Machinery Co., which was taken from Descartes, Freightos and Drewry, along with the SV data for minor fabricated steel components. However, Baker sustained Commerce's surrogate value picks related to two of Dingli's motor inputs. The court also said Commerce appropriately accepted certain factual information submissions from Dingli, despite the submissions violating the agency's regulations, since it was the only chance for Dingli to rebut the SV data on the record.