CIT Sustains Commerce's Negative AD/CVD Circumvention Finding for Hardwood Plywood

The Court of International Trade sustained the Commerce Department's negative antidumping and countervailing duty circumvention rulings on certain hardwood plywood products from China in a July 21 opinion, finding that Shelter Forest International Acquisition's goods were not later-developed merchandise. Commerce had reversed its initial finding of circumvention on remand after a previous CIT ruling in the case. The Coalition for Fair Trade in Hardwood Plywood challenged Commerce's findings, claiming that since a component of the glue was a trade secret, it could not be considered commercially available, making it later-developed. The court disagreed, ruling that whether the trade secret status of one part is irrelevant as to whether the plywood was actually “present in the market.”