CAFC Reopens AD Review due to False Origin Certs for China Ironing Tables

In the August 2006 - July 2007 antidumping duty administrative review of folding metal ironing tables from China, the ITA found Chinese producer Since Hardware (Gouangzhou) Co., Ltd. had provided falsified certificates of origin for its primary inputs, to claim its steel inputs were from market economy countries. The company had used identical questionable documents in the prior review. Therefore, with a legal challenge to the prior review still underway, domestic producer Home Products, Inc. sought to amend its complaint in that review with the new evidence of fraud, and to remand the case to the International Trade Administration, but the Court of International Trade denied the request. Now the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled that since “new evidence indicates the agency’s proceedings were tainted by material fraud,” the CIT must remand the prior review to the ITA.

The ruling may open the door to other late challenges to completed reviews based on fraud allegations, even in cases not being contested in ongoing litigation, according to attorneys close to the case. (Appeal 2010-1184, decided February 7, 2011)