German Forged Fluid Steel End Block Exporter Says Commerce Expanded Scope of AD Order

A German exporter of forged steel fluid end blocks brought a complaint Oct. 16 to the Court of International Trade arguing that the Commerce Department, in a review of the antidumping duty order on its products, illegally expanded the scope of the AD order to include forged steel products that weren’t fluid end blocks (BGH Edelstahl Siegen GmbH v. U.S., CIT # 24-00176).

Exporter BGH Edelstahl Siegen GmbH, a mandatory respondent for the 2022 review of German forged steel fluid end blocks, received a 19.96% dumping margin. In the review, Commerce determined that “forged steel blocks produced according to specific customer drawings for non-[fluid end block] products” made by BGH were “foreign like product” and included them in its normal value calculation.

But the scope of the AD order “explicitly” only covers forged steel fluid end blocks, finished or unfinished, it said.

Finished fluid end blocks are hydraulic fluid power pump parts classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8413, it said. Meanwhile, “unfinished” fluid end blocks, “as expressly stated in the petition documents,” are solely forged steel blocks that will be processed into fluid end blocks, it said.

It said this was further evidenced by the International Trade Commission, which found in its injury determination that “unfinished [fluid end blocks] are an intermediate product dedicated exclusively to the production of finished [fluid end blocks], with no other uses.” As a result, the ITC didn’t make any injury finding for any forged blocks or bars, finished or unfinished, not intended for processing into finished fluid end blocks, it said.

Citing Wheatland Tube, the exporter said that “a ‘fundamental requirement of both U.S. and international law is that an antidumping duty order must be supported by an ITC determination of material injury covering the merchandise in question.’”

By including other unfinished forged steel blocks in its calculation of BGH’s normal value, the department widened the scope of the AD order substantially and uncoupled the definition of unfinished fluid end blocks from the definition of finished fluid end blocks, it said.