Importer of Aluminum Extrusions From China Seeks Attorney's Fees From US

An importer of aluminum extrusions from China -- one of those found by the Court of International Trade in June to have not evaded antidumping and countervailing duties (see 2407100048) -- asked the trade court to award it attorney’s fees, saying that, as a result of the litigation, it had gone out of business (H&E Home v. U.S., CIT Consol. # 21-00337).

In the Oct. 7 brief, importer Global Aluminum said that multiple bad actions on the part of the government justified the payment of attorney’s fees.

First, it said, CBP had, “without any credible evidence,” taken interim measures by suspending liquidation of all incoming covered merchandise after launching the evasion investigation.

The U.S. then refused to consolidate two Enforce and Protect Act cases against Global Aluminum even though “both cases involved the same merchandise, the same supplier, same AD/CVD order and all of the entries in the second case are included in the first case,” the importer said. As a result, Global Aluminum had to pay “duplicated” attorney's fees in responding to both EAPA cases separately, it said.

CBP also omitted entry data reports and fact sheets and CBP Form 28 responses, among other “key documents,” from the administrative record, the importer said. And it said CBP had erroneously affirmed the evasion determination, requiring appeal to the judicial system.

“This prolonged litigation damaged Global Aluminum’s reputation and disrupted their operations, ultimately contributing to the permanent closure of their business,” the importer said.