Juancheng Kangtai Chemical Co. v. United States
Opinion
Appellants Juancheng Kangtai Chemical Co., Ltd. ("Kangtai Chemical") and NAC Group Limited ("NAC") (together, "Kangtai") appeal from the opinion and order of the U.S. Court of International Trade ("CIT") dismissing its complaint. The CIT held, inter alia, that it lacked jurisdiction under
BACKGROUND
I. Legal Framework
By statute, antidumping duties may be imposed on "foreign merchandise ... being, or ... likely to be, sold in the United States at less than its fair value."
When conducting these reviews, Commerce typically must "determine the individual weighted average dumping margin for each known exporter and producer of the subject merchandise." 19 U.S.C. § 1677f-1(c)(1) ;
see
Viet I-Mei Frozen Foods Co. v. United States
,
The statute explains how "normal value shall be determined" "[i]n order to achieve a fair comparison with the export price or constructed export price." 19 U.S.C. § 1677b(a). Relevant here, Commerce has found the People's Republic of China ("China") is a nonmarket economy country.
See
SolarWorld
,
II. Procedural History
In 2005, Commerce published an antidumping duty order on chlorinated isocyanurates ("subject merchandise") from China.
Chlorinated Isocyanurates from the People's Republic of China
(
AD Order
),
Following the AR 9 Final Results , in which Kangtai received a zero percent antidumping duty margin, Commerce issued liquidation instructions to Customs. See J.A. 101-04. The AR 9 liquidation instructions ordered Customs to assess a rate of $0.00 per metric ton on all shipments of subject merchandise "exported by [Kangtai Chemical], imported by or sold to" NAC, "and entered , or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption during the period 06/01/2013 through 05/31/2014," which is the POR covered by AR 9. J.A. 102 (emphasis added). The AR 10 liquidation instructions similarly set liquidation rates in U.S. dollars per metric ton for shipments of subject merchandise based on the margins calculated in the AR 10 Final Results "exported by [Kangtai Chemical], imported by or sold to [specified purchasers, not including NAC], and entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption during the period 06/01/2014 through 05/31/2015." J.A. 106 For entries made during the POR associated with AR 10 "not covered" by the above instruction in the AR 10 liquidation instructions (thereby including exports by Kangtai Chemical imported by NAC), Commerce instructed Customs to "assess antidumping duties at the [China]-wide rate" of 285.63%. J.A. 106.
In October 2017, Kangtai filed its Complaint against the Government. J.A. 58. Kangtai asserted jurisdiction pursuant to § 1581(i)(2) and (i)(4). J.A. 59. According to Kangtai, Commerce improperly instructed Customs to assess an antidumping duty margin on eighteen of Kangtai's subject merchandise entries at a rate higher than the zero percent rate calculated for Kangtai's entries in the AR 9 Final Results . See J.A. 58, 63. Kangtai alleged that it made "sales [that] were invoiced at the end of" the POR associated with AR 9, but that the subject merchandise " entered the United States in the subsequent review," i.e., during the POR associated with AR 10. J.A. 58. According to Kangtai, Commerce "liquidated eleven of these entries," but seven remained unliquidated. J.A. 63. Kangtai alleged, inter alia, that: (1) Commerce "acted contrary to law when it assessed individual sales [at] an [antidumping duty] rate that was higher than the rate calculated upon individual review" in AR 9, J.A. 63-64 (Count I); (2) Commerce's *1326 "decision to treat the sales as if they were made by the [China-wide entity] is unsupported by substantial evidence" because "those sales were made by Kangtai," J.A. 64 (Count II); and (3) Commerce's "decision that the NAC entries were not reviewed merely because they entered in the POR subsequent to the AR in which they were reviewed was unsupported by substantial evidence as well as arbitrary and capricious," J.A. 64 (Count III). 4
The CIT held it lacked jurisdiction under § 1581(i).
Kangtai
,
DISCUSSION
I. Standard of Review and Legal Standard
We review the CIT's jurisdictional determination de novo.
See
Sunpreme Inc. v. United States
,
The CIT's "jurisdiction is enumerated in
*1327 exclusive jurisdiction of any civil action commenced against the United States, its agencies, or its officers, that arises out of any law of the United States providing for-
(1) revenue from imports or tonnage;
(2) tariffs, duties, fees, or other taxes on the importation of merchandise for reasons other than the raising of revenue ;
(3) embargoes or other quantitative restrictions on the importation of merchandise for reasons other than the protection of the public health or safety; or
(4) administration and enforcement with respect to the matters referred to in paragraphs (1)-(3) of this subsection and subsections (a) - (h) of [§ 1581 ].
The CIT's residual jurisdiction "may not be invoked when jurisdiction under another subsection of § 1581 is or could have been available, unless the remedy provided under that other subsection would be manifestly inadequate."
Sunpreme
,
II. The CIT Properly Dismissed Kangtai's Claims for Lack of Jurisdiction
The CIT dismissed Counts I-III of the Complaint for lack of jurisdiction, explaining that "it is clear that the true nature of Kangtai's [C]omplaint aims to challenge Commerce's evaluation of sales in AR 9 and entries in AR 10, a claim properly arising out of [§] 1581(c)."
Kangtai
,
Kangtai argues "the CIT erroneously found that Kangtai's Complaint challenged the AR 10 Final Results and should therefore have been brought under [§] 1581(c)." Appellants' Br. 20 (italics added) (capitalization modified). Rather, Kangtai maintains that its challenge is to Commerce's liquidation instructions, which it asserts improperly imposed the China-wide entity liquidation rate of 285.63% "upon eighteen sales and the subsequent entries that were fully reported in AR 9." Id. at 20-21. Kangtai further avers that any remedy available to it under § 1581(c) "is manifestly inadequate" because Kangtai already received a zero percent margin in the AR 9 Final Results , meaning "there was nothing to appeal" there, and because filing a § 1581(c) action challenging the AR 10 Final Results "would not save [its eighteen *1328 entries at issue] from being liquidated at the [China]-wide rate." Id. at 27. Kangtai's analysis is incorrect.
Kangtai could have sought relief under § 1581(c) because the true nature of Kangtai's action is a challenge to Commerce's determination to assess antidumping duties on entries, rather than on sales, made during the relevant POR. In its Complaint, Kangtai alleges that "all eighteen ... entries were governed by AR 9 because the
sales
in question were specifically reviewed and [antidumping duty] margins calculated in AR 9; not AR 10." J.A. 63 (emphasis added). According to Kangtai, Commerce improperly determined these sales were not subject to the AR 9 rate because they were entered during the POR corresponding to AR 10.
See
J.A. 58 ("Only because the sales were invoiced at the end of that period of review (and thus lawfully included therein) but
entered
the United States in the subsequent review were they actually assessed a punitive[ly] high [antidumping duty] margin that bore no relation to the actual[ly] calculated [antidumping duty] rate for those very sales."). The statute requires Commerce to conduct administrative reviews and "determine" the amount of antidumping duties, upon request, for "12-month period[s]."
Here, Commerce repeatedly manifested its intent to rely on the date of entry for its assessment of antidumping duties. For instance, during AR 9, Commerce issued questionnaires
6
asking Kangtai to "[r]eport each U.S. sale of merchandise
entered for consumption during the POR
." J.A. 124 (emphasis added). Although Commerce stated that "for [export price] sales" Kangtai could "report each transaction involving merchandise shipped during the POR," that exception applied only "if [it] do[es] not know the entry dates." J.A. 124. Then, in the preliminary results of both AR 9 and AR 10, Commerce stated its intention to assess antidumping duty rates on
entries
made during the relevant POR, rather than on
sales
.
Chlorinated Isocyanurates from the People's Republic of China
(
AR 10 Preliminary Results
),
During the administrative proceedings, Kangtai did not directly challenge Commerce's decision to rely on entries,
see
Reply Br. 17-18;
see also
Oral Arg. at 0:11-1:10, http://oralarguments.cafc.uscourts.gov/default.aspx?fl=2018-2298.mp3, even though it could have,
see
Furthermore, Kangtai has failed to meet its burden of demonstrating that relief under § 1581(c) would have been manifestly inadequate. Not only could Kangtai have challenged Commerce's decision to assess duties on entries in the
AR 9 Final Results
or the
AR 10 Final Results
, Kangtai actually did file a complaint contesting the
AR 10 Final Results
.
See
Compl.,
*1330
Heze Huayi Chem. Co. v. United
States
, No. 1:17-cv-00032-RKM (Ct. Int'l Trade Feb. 15, 2017), ECF No. 7. However, in that litigation, Kangtai alleged only that Commerce improperly calculated its antidumping duty rate,
see
We find Kangtai's counterargument that "the CIT misapplied the standard of review" and drew factual "inferences in favor of the" Government, rather than Kangtai, unavailing. Appellants' Br. 17 (capitalization modified). Specifically, Kangtai criticizes the CIT's characterization of Commerce's request for information in its Section C questionnaire for U.S. sales,
see
id.
at 17-18; however, the CIT's recitation of the facts simply quoted from Commerce's questionnaire,
see
Kangtai
,
Kangtai also argues "the CIT's finding that 'Kangtai's response attached an exhibit identifying sales and the corresponding entry dates for those sales' was clearly erroneous." Appellants' Br. 18 (quoting
Kangtai
,
*1331 CONCLUSION
We have considered Kangtai's remaining arguments and find them unpersuasive. The Final Judgment of the U.S. Court of International Trade is
AFFIRMED
In June 2015, Congress amended the statutes containing the antidumping provisions.
See
Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 ("TPEA"), Pub. L. No. 114-27, §§ 501-507,
"When the foreign producer or exporter sells directly to an
unaffiliated
purchaser in the United States, Commerce uses [export price] as the U.S. price for purposes of the comparison."
Micron Tech., Inc. v. United States
,
The subject merchandise includes "derivatives of cyanuric acid, described as chlorinated s-triazine triones," that have "three primary chemical compositions" and "are available in powder, granular, and tableted forms."
AD Order
,
The Complaint also alleged, in Count IV, that Commerce's "decision to liquidate entries prior to the expiry of the [sixty] days permitted by law to lodge an appeal was unlawful and an unreasonable litigation tactic," thereby challenging Commerce's policy to issue liquidation instructions to Customs within fifteen days of publication of its final results of an administrative review. J.A. 65. Kangtai did not challenge the CIT's dismissal of Count IV in this appeal. See generally Appellants' Br.
Congress amended § 1581(c) through Title IV of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015.
See
Enforce and Protect Act of 2015, Pub. L. No. 114-125, § 421(b),
"Commerce issues detailed nonmarket economy questionnaires to foreign respondents in the [administrative review] proceedings to gather information from which to calculate dumping margins."
AHSTAC
,
In response to Commerce's questionnaires, Kangtai reported sale date, rather than entry date. See, e.g. , J.A. 126, 141-44. Simply because Commerce accepted Kangtai's responses and calculated antidumping duty margins based on sales made during the POR does not, on its own, undermine the other indications that Commerce was planning to assess duties on entries . If Kangtai wanted to challenge Commerce's decision to assess duties on entries on the basis that doing so would be at odds with its reliance on sales for calculation purposes, it could have raised that issue to Commerce and then to the CIT in a challenge under § 1581(c), as discussed below.
In at least three cases, the CIT has considered similar challenges under its § 1581(c) jurisdiction.
See
Watanabe Grp. v. United States
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- JUANCHENG KANGTAI CHEMICAL CO., LTD., NAC Group Limited, Plaintiffs-Appellants v. UNITED STATES, Defendant-Appellee
- Cited By
- 5 cases
- Status
- Published