CIT Remands Negative Affiliation Finding in Suit on AD Rate for Brazilian Lemons

The Court of International Trade remanded the Commerce Department's finding that exporter Louis Dreyfus wasn't affiliated with its main fresh lemon supplier, leading to a de minimis rate for the company in the antidumping duty investigation on lemon juice from Brazil. Filing a confidential decision Nov. 7, Judge Claire Kelly gave the parties until Nov. 14 to review the confidential information in the opinion (Ventura Coastal v. U.S., CIT # 23-00009).

Petitioner Ventura Coastal, defendant-intervenor Louis Dreyfus and defendant U.S. supplied the court with another round of briefing following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which eliminated the principle of deferring to agencies' interpretations of ambiguous statutes (see 2409030050). Ventura said the court shouldn't defer to Commerce's interpretation of the term "partners" in 19 USC Section 1677(33), while Louis Dreyfus and the U.S. said the agency's ability to interpret the term is tied up with its fact-finding power, which the Supreme Court said to continue showing deference to.