The Commerce Department erred when it used adverse facts available against Korean exporter SeAH Steel Corp.'s alleged benefits under the Export-Import Bank of Korea's (KEXIM's) Performance Guarantee program, SeAH argued in a May 17 motion for judgment at the Court of International Trade. Commerce illegally used adverse facts available in assigning SeAH a 1.33% CVD rate when it found that a 2019 KEXIM guarantee amounted to "untimely new factual information" (SeAH Steel Corp. v. U.S., CIT # 22-00338).
Ben Perkins
Ben Perkins, Assistant Editor, is a reporter with International Trade Today and its sister publications, Trade Law Daily and Export Compliance Daily, where he covers sanctions, court rulings, and other international trade issues. He previously worked as a trade analyst for a Washington D.C. advisory firm. Ben holds a B.A. in English from the University of New Hampshire and an M.A. in International Relations from American University. Ben joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2022.
GoPro Camera housings are properly classified as cases under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 4202 rather than parts, the government continued to argue during March 15 oral arguments at the Court of International Trade. The arguments were meant to address GoPro's September motion for judgment (see 2208080041) and the government's response (see 2212140060).
The Commerce Department failed to correctly apply quarterly cost methodology in an antidumping duty review of certain carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length (CTL) plate from Italy, exporter Officine Tecnosider said in a March 17 motion for judgment at the Court of International Trade (Officine Tecnosider v. U.S., CIT # 23-00001).
The Commerce Department failed to follow a Court of International Trade directive in its remand results concerning Yama Ribbons and Bows' alleged receipt of benefits from China's Export Buyer's Credit Program, said Yama in its March 17 response brief (Yama Ribbons and Bows v. U.S., CIT # 20-00059). Yama asked the court to instruct Commerce to apply an appropriate rate for the EBCP not based on adverse facts.
The Court of International Trade on March 20 denied motions for judgment from both an importer and the government in a case involving the valuation of allegedly defective plywood. Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves found that "genuine issues of material fact exist" as to the salvage value of the plywood, whether all the plywood was indeed defective, whether the importer, Bral, can tie the defective plywood to specific entries, and how the defects violate the underlying contract with the supplier.
After a fifth remand order, the Commerce Department assigned a zero percent all-others dumping margin in a less-than-fair-value investigation onf certain hardwood plywood products from China, according to remand results released March 16 (Linyi Chengen Import and Export Co., Ltd., et al. v. U.S., CIT Consol. # 18-00002).
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
CBP failed to consider the "double transformation" of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) chips as inputs into PET film from Bahrain, instead treating the chips as non-originating material for purposes of the minimum value content calculation, Bahrainian importer JBF told the Court of International Trade in a March 16 complaint. The suit challenges CBP's denial of duty-free treatment under the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement for goods manufactured by JBF and CBP's refusal to deduct a post-import rebate from the price paid for PET chips, which are a component of PET film (JBF Bahrain v. U.S., CIT # 23-00067).
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
Mixes of frozen fruits should be classified under tariff provisions for food preparations, rather than in a subheading for "other" frozen fruits, because the latter provision is for frozen fruits other than the fruits listed in the relevant heading rather than complete fruit mixtures, importer Nature's Touch argued in a March 13 suplemental brief (Nature's Touch Frozen Foods (West). v. U.S., CIT # 20-00131).