CIT Remands Application of AFA on China's EBCP in CVD Case on Truck and Bus Tires

The Court of International Trade remanded in part and sustained in part the Commerce Department's final results in a countervailing duty investigation on truck and bus tires from China in a May 19 opinion made public on May 26. Upholding Commerce's issuance of the CVD order and the agency's application of adverse facts available to previously unreported grants and loans by respondent Giuzhou Tyre Co., Judge Timothy Reif also sent back for further consideration Commerce's decision to apply AFA to China's Export Buyer's Credit Program, along with four other elements to its duty calculation.

"This case has presented a recurring issue before the court," Reif said. "Repeatedly, the issue of Commerce’s application of AFA to find use of the EBCP has come before the Court and repeatedly the Court has remanded back to Commerce for further explanation. The court encourages Commerce to use this remand finally to move beyond this endless loop by providing a further explanation for its decision to not verify the customer self-certifications and turn to AFA."