Commerce Stays With AD Review Results, Finds Ministerial Error Allegation Untimely Filed

The Commerce Department made no corrections to the final results of a 2020-2021 administrative review of an antidumping duty order on polyethylene terephthalate resin from Oman after considering a ministerial error allegation by plaintiff Octal, DOJ told the Court of International Trade in a March 13 motion. DOJ had asked the Court to allow the Commerce Department to consider the allegation and, if necessary, to amend its final results. Commerce found that Octal untimely filed its allegation (Octal, et al. v. United States, CIT # 22-00352).

Octal had filed suit in December, challenging Commerce's changes to the date of sale for Octal's U.S. sales. Commerce should have used the date when the relevant price index was published rather than the invoice date, and the change resulted in an erroneous 3.96% dumping margin for the exporter, Octal said (see 2212290017).