CIT Faults AD Scope Ruling on Butt-Weld Duties for Fitting With Threads

The Court of International Trade on Oct. 16 struck down a two-year-old Commerce Department scope ruling that found steel branch outlets used in fire protection system are subject to antidumping duties on carbon steel butt-weld pipe fittings from China (A-570-814). Commerce had in September 2018 found branch fittings imported by Vandewater covered by AD duties, even though they only have a single welded connection, and are threaded on the other end (see 1810160069). CIT found Commerce failed to adequately explain itself, relying mostly on a previous scope ruling that doesn’t fully address the issue, and sent the scope ruling back down to Commerce for a fuller analysis.