Exporter Notes 'Tremendous Disparity' Between Its and Commerce's Filing Deadlines in AD Review

Antidumping duty respondent Ajmal Steel Tubes and Pipes Ind. filed a complaint at the Court of International Trade over the Commerce Department's denial of part of its responses in an AD administrative review. The company challenges Commerce's rejection of its questionnaire responses for being untimely filed for being nearly two hours late, despite COVID-19-related technical difficulties. The decision was especially egregious since Commerce granted itself lengthy extensions to meet deadlines in the review, the company said (Ajmal Steel Tubes & Pipes Ind. LLC v. United States, CIT #21-00587).

The case concerns the administrative review of the AD order on circular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes from the United Arab Emirates, covering entries in 2018-2019, in which Ajmal was tapped as a mandatory respondent, as it has been every year since the order's inception. The review started on March 10, 2020, only to see the Washington, D.C., mayor issue a stay-at-home order 20 days later. Counsel for Ajmal transitioned to a work-from-home environment.

The first major deadline of the review came on April 14, 2020, when the exporter was tasked with submitting its Section A responses. As a result of technical difficulties, the responses came in an hour and 50 minutes late. Ajmal also tried submitting an 11th-hour extension request that was also denied due to the same technical difficulties resulting in its late submission. Commerce refused multiple requests from Ajmal to reconsider the rejection, but gave itself lengthy deadlines, up to 120 days, to make submissions in the review, Ajmal complained.