CIT Remands Parts, Upholds Parts of Russian Phosphate Fertilizers CVD Invesitgation

The Court of International Trade in a July 11 opinion remanded parts and sustained parts of the Commerce Department's countervailing duty investigation of phosphate fertilizers from Russia. Judge Jane Restani upheld Commerce's tier-three benchmark calculation for natural gas, which included the import-specific 20% value-added tax and 5% import duty, along with the agency's decision to countervail phosphate rock mining licenses issued by the Russian government to exporters EuroChem and PhosAgro. Restani sent back Commerce's decision to use a "Profit Before Tax" figure to account for exported phosphate rock prices when calculating PhosAGro's profit ratio. The judge also remanded Commerce's reliance on PhosAgro's cost information and its explanation for why it found EuroChem's cost information supported.