Quiedan Company v. United States
Opinion
Quiedan Company is an importer of agricultural stakes produced in the People's Republic of China. It imports the stakes for use in training grape vines and other plants. Each stake is made of steel concrete reinforcing bar (rebar) by cutting rebar to a length of four to five feet followed by sharpening one end to a point to ease driving the stake into the ground. The United States Department of Commerce concluded that Quiedan's stakes are clearly within the scope of an antidumping duty order covering rebar from China. We see no substantive or procedural error in that ruling or in Commerce's continuation of a suspension of liquidation for Quiedan's stakes. Because the Court of International Trade drew the same conclusions, we affirm.
I
On May 6, 2016, Quiedan applied to Commerce, under
Commerce rejected Quiedan's position. Commerce considered whether the merchandise is within the ADD Order's scope by examining Quiedan's application for the scope ruling and the factors specified in subsection (k)(1)-"[t]he descriptions of the merchandise contained in the petition, the initial investigation, and the determinations of the Secretary (including prior scope determinations) and the Commission."
It is undisputed that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had already been suspending liquidation-the final calculation of duties owed,
Quiedan challenged the scope ruling in the Court of International Trade under 19 U.S.C. § 1516a(a)(2)(B)(vi) (2012) and
II
We review the Commerce decisions at issue de novo, using the same standard of review applied by the Court of International Trade,
see
Diamond Sawblades Mfrs. Coal. v. United States
,
A
There is no dispute that Quiedan's stakes are made from rebar by cutting a long bar to a desired length and sharpening the result to a point at one end through stamping, followed by removal of burrs from the point. Quiedan makes essentially three substantive arguments that Commerce nonetheless erred in ruling that the stakes are within the ADD Order. We reject all three arguments.
First
: Quiedan argues that, because of the point at one end, the products are not "sold in straight lengths," as required by the
Rebar Order
,
Commerce explained that "[f]rom the tip of the point to the center of the butt end, Quiedan's rebar continuously" extends "in the same direction," and "the bar is objectively straight from end to end." J.A. 144. Commerce took a practical view suited to the context, explaining that the presence of a point "technically composed of multiple angles[ ] does not change the fundamental character of the bar as being straight throughout its length."
Before Commerce, Quiedan suggested that its stakes, even if they have a "straight length," might be excluded as having been "processed through bending."
See
Second
: Quiedan argues that the stakes are excluded from the ADD Order because they are "merchant bar." That term does not appear in the ADD Order, but the International Trade Commission used it, evidently to refer to something different from "rebar" and hence outside the ADD Order, when in 2013 it explained the results of its Second Sunset Review of the Order.
See
*1332
Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar from Belarus, China, Indonesia, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, and Ukraine
, Inv. Nos. 731-TA-873, 731-TA-874, 731-TA-875, USITC Pub. 4409, at I-25 (July 1, 2013) (conducted pursuant to
The Commission said that "[m]erchant bar products include bars with round, square, flat, angled, and channeled cross sections, and are used by fabricators and manufacturers to produce a variety of products, including steel floor and roof joists, safety walkways, ornamental furniture, stair railings, and farm equipment." J.A. 117. Commerce determined that Quiedan's stakes are not "merchant bar," because "there is no record evidence that demonstrates sharpening a piece of deformed rebar to a point transforms it into merchant bar." J.A. 145. Commerce "disagree[d] that the slight change in appearance of the rebar that has been stamped to a point and deburred changes the character of the deformed rebar to such a degree that it becomes merchant bar."
Quiedan makes no effort in this appeal to demonstrate that there was any record evidence that merchant bar can result from starting with rebar and simply cutting it and sharpening an end to a deburred point. To the contrary, the Second Sunset Review, which is the sole basis for Quiedan's argument, nowhere suggests that merchant bar can result from rebar in those ways. It says only that merchant bar can be produced using the same equipment that some manufacturers use to make rebar. See USITC Pub. 4409, at I-25.
Quiedan observes that, early in the scope ruling here, Commerce said that "the description of the merchandise under consideration also comports with" a description found in the Second Sunset Review, citing and quoting that Review's description of merchant bar. J.A. 143 & n.31. Quiedan's observation about the scope ruling is correct, but it does not undermine Commerce's ruling. What Commerce said was a mistake, and Commerce did not repeat it or rely on it later in its analysis, including in the explanation of why Quiedan's stakes are not merchant bar. We agree with the Court of International Trade that the minor error in Commerce's footnote did not influence the decision and does not justify a remand.
See
Quiedan
,
Third : Quiedan argues that "rebar" is defined in some way by what it is used for. Specifically, Quiedan suggests that the intended use of a sharpened length of rebar as an agricultural stake, rather than as support for concrete, makes the stakes not rebar. We reject this argument.
We have recognized a strong presumption that use conditions must be clear before a Commerce order can properly be construed as making the scope of covered merchandise turn on how an item is used (or intended to be used), rather than what it is.
See
King Supply Co. v. United States
,
Commerce so stated when, in this case, it summarized its 2012 ruling that "the usage of rebar ... was immaterial to the scope" of the ADD Order. J.A. 141; J.A. 140-41 (summarizing "Antidumping Duty Order on Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bars from the People's Republic of China; Final Scope Ruling: Steel Pins," dated January 19, 2012). But Commerce noted that "Quiedan's request does not assert that the end use or length of its training stakes be *1333 taken into consideration." J.A. 145; see J.A. 29-30 (Quiedan's Scope Ruling Request) ("Quiedan is not arguing that the mere size or use of its Training Stakes takes them outside the scope of the Rebar Order. Rather, for the reasons set out below, Quiedan is seeking a scope ruling from [Commerce] confirming that the Training Stakes are excluded and/or outside the scope of the [ADD Order] due to their physical properties and fabrication."). For that reason, Commerce properly found it unnecessary to rely on its 2012 ruling in this matter.
We have considered Quiedan's remaining arguments and find them unpersuasive. Quiedan's arguments fail to undermine Commerce's conclusion that the stakes at issue are clearly within the language of the ADD Order, considering the factors specified in § 351.225(k)(1). We therefore reject Quiedan's substantive challenges to Commerce's scope ruling.
B
Quiedan has made two additional, related arguments: (1) Commerce should have initiated a formal scope inquiry, and (2) Commerce improperly instructed CBP to continue suspending liquidation on the training stakes, including for entries made before Commerce issued its final scope ruling. Quiedan's briefing seems to accept that neither argument has merit if, as we conclude in agreement with Commerce and the Court of International Trade, there is no genuine ambiguity about the coverage by the antidumping duty order of the merchandise at issue.
See
Appellant Br. 35-36, 41-48; Reply Br. 22, 28. In fact, it is clear that no formal inquiry is required where a (k)(1) analysis is dispositive.
See
III
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the judgment of the Court of International Trade.
No costs.
AFFIRMED
Reference
- Full Case Name
- QUIEDAN COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellant v. UNITED STATES, Rebar Trade Action Coalition, Defendants-Appellees
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published