The Court of International Trade on Nov. 17 upheld the International Trade Commission's critical circumstances finding on raw honey imports from Vietnam, which led to the retroactive imposition of antidumping duties on the products. Judge Leo Gordon said that legal and evidentiary claims from the plaintiffs, led by Sweet Harvest Foods, fell flat.

The Commerce Department imposed an "onerous level of certification" on countervailing duty respondent Risen Energy Co. regarding its supposed use of China's Export Buyer's Credit Program, the Court of International Trade ruled in a Nov. 17 opinion. Judge Jane Restani said that all the factors considered together, which included the provision of non-use certificates from Risen's U.S. buyers and government intrusion into these companies' financial records regarding years-old transactions, resulted in an "unnecessary level of verification."

Solar cell importer Greentech Energy Solution cannot argue both that it suffered no injury on its goods until CBP issued a notice of action and that it was not required to file a protest with CBP since the agency's actions were purely ministerial, the U.S. argued in a Nov. 16 reply brief supporting its motion to dismiss. Addressing Greentech's claims that its actions were not untimely nor improperly brought under Section 1581(i), the Court of International Trade's "residual" jurisdiction, the government said Greentech's Administrative Procedure Act claim must identify the specific final agency action it is challenging (Greentech Energy Solutions v. United States, CIT # 23-00118).

The Court of International Trade in a Nov. 15 opinion partially ended an antidumping duty case for one of two plaintiffs, German exporter Salzgitter Mannesmann Grobblech, since its claims already have been resolved by the court. Salzgitter challenged the use of adverse facts available on its sales for which the company could not identify or report the manufacturer in the AD investigation of cut-to-length carbon and alloy steel plate from Germany.

The U.S. articulated a theory of fraud but did not "plead fraud with particularity" in its case against importer Katana Racing seeking over $5.7 million in unpaid safeguard duties on Chinese tires, Katana argued in a renewed motion to dismiss at the Court of International Trade. Again seeking to dispatch of the case following the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's remand kicking the matter back to the trade court, the importer said the govenrment's case did not touch on the "who, what, when, where, and how of the alleged fraud" as required by the Supreme Court in making a pleading, particularly one for fraud (United States v. Katana Racing, CIT # 19-00125).

The Commerce Department failed to show on remand that antidumping duty respondent Nexco's acquisition prices are a "reasonable proxy for the cost of production of raw honey" as part of the AD investigation on raw honey from Argentina, Nexco said in remand comments at the Court of International Trade. Commerce's policy regarding unprocessed raw agricultural products where it bases cost of production on the cost of making the raw goods, even when the respondent isn't the producer, stands "in contrast to Commerce's policy regarding processed agricultural products where the exporter is the producer," the brief said (Nexco v. United States, CIT # 22-00203).

The Commerce Department again failed to establish that Germany's KAV program is de jure specific as part of the countervailing duty investigation on forged steel fluid end blocks from Germany, the Court of International Trade ruled in a Nov. 14 opinion. Judge Claire Kelly said that just because the subsidy program is limited, in this case to certain customers based on energy usage, doesn't mean that it is de jure specific. Commerce didn't explain how the program limits usage to certain industries or enterprises and failed to consider the program's economic and horizontal properties and application, the opinion said.

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The Commerce Department didn't properly apply the "proper statutory test for affiliation" between antidumping duty respondent Saha Thai Steel Pipe Public Co. and one of its customers, BNK Steel Co., the Court of International Trade ruled in a Nov. 13 opinion. Judge Stephen Vaden said that Commerce, as part of the 2019-20 AD review of circular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes from Thailand, erred in basing its finding of affiliation between the two companies on a single shared human resources manager and the mere speculation that there could have been other ties between the companies.

A U.S. semiconductor company and a Canadian electronics component manufacturer are locked in a legal battle that could have implications for the export compliance responsibilities of sellers and buyers, particularly within the chip industry.