Garlic That Is Boiled, Then Frozen Is 'Processed,' Exempting It From AD, Importer Says

An importer arguing that its Chinese-origin garlic that is boiled, then frozen shouldn’t be subject to antidumping duties on fresh garlic from China filed a motion for judgment in the Court of International Trade on July 15 (Export Packers Company Limited v. U.S., CIT # 24-00061).

Importer Export Packers raised many of the same claims it had made in its March complaint (see 2403270050). Primarily, it claimed that the orders carved out a specific exception for garlic that is “prepared or preserved by the addition of other ingredients or heat processing.”

It said the Commerce Department wrongly distinguished its “cooked” garlic from “roasted” garlic in its scope ruling when it held, based on a k(2) factors analysis, that boiling was not the type of “heat processing” the AD order had intended would be able to exempt a product (see 2402260025).

Commerce, the importer said, was wrongly expanding the scope of the order by applying it to Export Packers’ garlic.

It agreed with Commerce that “heat processing” was an ambiguous term, but argued that the department had failed to consider “prepared” to be one as well. The record, it said, “provided conclusive and unrebutted evidence establishing that [Export Packer’s] garlic was ‘prepared’ by ‘heat processing.’”

The term “prepared” means “further processed,” it argued.

“Importantly, the Meriam Webster definition of ‘prepared’ does not limit the meaning of ‘prepared’ to any specific type of processing, such as roasting,” it said.

It also argued again that boiling garlic for 90 seconds “reduces its allicin content by approximately 98.5% and collapses the cell walls in each glove of garlic to significantly alter its texture.” As a result, its products’ consumer expectations, end use, channels of trade, marketing and physical characteristics were all distinct from those of fresh garlic, it said.