The U.S. on July 14 appeared in a case at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit over whether the Commerce Department has the statutory authority to conduct expedited countervailing duty reviews. The court in June invited the U.S. to file an amicus brief after it failed to appear to that point (see 2206100045). In response, Elizabeth Speck at DOJ asked the court for another 92 days to file the amicus brief, filing an unopposed motion for extension of time. In the brief, Speck said that the additional 92 days is necessary since the U.S. has decided not to participate in the appeal.
The Department of Commerce correctly used its knowledge test to exclude from the final margin calculation sales made to JA Solar, argued the government in a July 8 brief at the Court of International Trade opposing a summary judgment by JA Solar (JA Solar International Limited v. U.S., CIT #21-00514).
A World Trade Organization arbitrator determined the methodology Canada can use to set the level of retaliatory measures it can impose on goods imported from the U.S. if the U.S. applies countervailing duties on Canadian goods based on a measure found to be inconsistent with WTO rules. In the July 13 decision, the arbitrator said Canada would set the appropriate level of nullification or impairment in the future "based on the four-variety Armington model," which was recommended by the U.S. and can quantify the trade decline experienced by Canada through a particular use of the U.S.'s adverse facts available measures in CVD proceedings.
Oriented strand board used in door jambs imported by Composite Technology International (CTI) does not qualify as a composite material for the purposes of an exemption from antidumping and countervailing duties on wood mouldings and millwork from China (A-570-117/C-570-118), so the door jambs are subject to AD/CVD, the Commerce Department said in a recent scope ruling.
An importer entered merchandise covered by antidumping and countervailing duty orders on cast iron soil pipe fittings from China (A-570-062/C-570-063) into the U.S through evasion, CBP said in a July 12 notice. The Cast Iron Soil Pipe Institute, a trade association of domestic producers of fittings, had alleged in July 2021 that Little Fireflies International transshipped the goods through Cambodia.
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The U.S., in defending its affirmative evasion finding in an Enforce and Protect Act case against Leco Supply, unlawfully seeks to rely on adverse inferences that CBP did not make while also conflating CBP's error in failing to follow its own regulations over the redaction of non-business confidential information with the due process violations that stem from its failure to follow those regulations, Leco argued. Submitting a reply brief at the Court of International Trade, Leco continues to pursue its constitutional claims against CBP's evasion proceeding while tackling the agency's evidentiary basis for the evasion finding and its use of adverse inferences (Leco Supply v. U.S., CIT #21-00136).
The Court of International Trade in a July 12 opinion denied a motion from Kevin Ho, owner and director of importer Atria, to dismiss a penalty action for lack of personal jurisdiction. Judge Timothy Reif said that the U.S. properly identified the "who, what, when, where, and how" of Ho's alleged fraud over the alleged illegal importation of HID headlight conversion kits, so personal jurisdiction was established. However, Reif denied in part and granted in part Ho's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, holding that the U.S. made insufficient factual allegations on Ho's knowledge and intent to violate customs law based on fraud, but giving the U.S. the opportunity to amend its complaint.
The Court of International Trade should deny a stay motion in a case involving the provision of electricity at less than adequate remuneration in a countervailing duty case, the South Korean government said in a brief filed July 1.
Solar cells and modules manufactured in Turkey by HT Solar are not subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on crystalline silicon photovoltaic products from China (A-570-010/C-570-011), the Commerce Department said in a recent scope ruling, The scope of the solar products orders covers only solar modules and panels assembled in China using cells from third countries, Commerce said. As the solar cells and modules from HT Solar are manufactured in Turkey, the China solar products orders do not apply, even though some of the raw materials in the cells, including wafers, are sourced from China, the agency said.