Acme Furniture Industry, Inc. v. United States

825 F. Supp. 2d 1353, 2012 WL 992111, 34 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1374, 2012 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 45
CourtUnited States Court of International Trade
DecidedMarch 23, 2012
DocketSlip Op. 12-42; Court 11-00137
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 825 F. Supp. 2d 1353 (Acme Furniture Industry, Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of International Trade primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Acme Furniture Industry, Inc. v. United States, 825 F. Supp. 2d 1353, 2012 WL 992111, 34 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1374, 2012 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 45 (cit 2012).

Opinion

OPINION

CARMAN, Judge:

Plaintiff Acme Furniture Industry, Inc. (“Acme” or “Plaintiff’) challenges a scope determination issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) deciding that Acme’s imported product falls within the scope of the antidumping duty order on wooden bedroom furniture (“WBF”) from the People’s Republic of China. (Compl. ¶ 1.) For the reasons set forth below, Commerce’s determination is sustained.

Background

In 2005, Commerce issued an antidumping duty order on WBF from the People’s Republic of China (“the Order”). Notice of Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Antidumping Duty Order: Wooden Bedroom Furniture From the People’s Republic of China, 70 Fed.Reg. 329 (Jan. 4, 2005). The scope of the Order states, in relevant part, that

[t]he product covered by the order is wooden bedroom furniture. Wooden bedroom furniture is generally, but not exclusively, designed, manufactured, and offered for sale in coordinated groups, or bedrooms, in which all of the individual pieces are of approximately the same *1355 style and approximately the same material and/or finish. The subject merchandise is made substantially of wood products, including both solid wood and also engineered wood products made from wood particles, fibers, or other wooden materials such as plywood, oriented strand board, particle board, and fiberboard, with or without wood veneers, wood overlays, or laminates, with or without non-wood components or trim such as metal, marble, leather, glass, plastic, or other resins, and whether or not assembled, completed, or finished.

Id. at 332 (emphasis added). The scope explicitly encompasses “[wjooden beds such as loft beds, bunk beds, and other beds[,]” and explicitly excludes “sofa beds,” and “upholstered beds.” Id.; Wooden Bedroom Furniture from the People’s Republic of China: Final Results of Changed Circumstances Review and Determination to Revoke Order in Part, 72 Fed.Reg. 7,013, 7,014 (Feb. 14, 2007) (adding the exclusion for “upholstered beds” to the language of the original scope).

Acme requested a scope determination that its upholstered daybed with trundle fell outside the scope of the WBF Order. 1 Wooden Bedroom Furniture from the People’s Republic of China: Scope Ruling on Acme Furniture Industry, Inc.’s Upholstered Daybeds (“Final Determination”) 1, (App’x. 2 to Pl.’s Mem. In Supp. of its R. 56.2 Mot. for J. Upon the Agency R. (“Pl.’s Mot.”) (Apr. 15, 2011)). Acme argued for this outcome, variously contending that the daybed with trundle (1) is not “substantially made of wood,” (2) is not bedroom furniture because it is not sold as a bedroom set, (3) is an excluded upholstered bed, or (4) is an excluded sofa bed. Id. at 6.

Commerce did not agree. In its Final Determination, Commerce concluded that Acme’s daybed with trundle falls within the scope of the WBF Order as an “other bed.” Id. at 12-13. Commerce determined that “the extensive use of wood products in all of the essential structural components of the bed; namely, the headboard, the footboard, the side rails; and the trundle unit; demonstrates that this bed is extensively made of wood products.” Id. at 11. Because Commerce found the product’s wood to be “integral to its composition,” Commerce concluded that the daybed with trundle is “substantially made of wood,” as that phrase is used in the scope language. Id. Commerce considered Acme’s argument that the product is not bedroom furniture because it is not sold as part of a bedroom set, but noted that the language of the scope does not require all covered products to be sold in bedroom sets. Id. at 11-12. Additionally, Commerce did not accept Acme’s arguments that the daybed with trundle was either an excluded upholstered bed or an excluded sofa bed. Commerce noted that to qualify as an upholstered bed, the daybed with trundle would have to be “completely upholstered ... except for bed feet,” which Acme conceded it was not. Id. at 11. And, consistent with a previous scope determination involving daybeds, Commerce found that the daybed with trundle was not essentially an excluded sofa bed, but rather was an “other bed,” subject to the Order. Id. 12-13. Commerce therefore concluded that the daybed with trundle was a bed covered by the scope of the WBF Order. Id. at 13. Acme then filed this lawsuit to challenge Commerce’s detexmination. (Compl. ¶ 1).

*1356 Standard of Review

In an action such as this, brought to contest a determination by Commerce “as to whether a particular type of merchandise is within the class or kind of merchandise described in an ... anti-dumping or countervailing duty order,” the Court “shall hold unlawful any determination, finding, or conclusion found ... to be unsupported by substantial evidence on the record, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” 19 U.S.C. § 1516a(a)(2)(B)(vi), (b)(1). The courts grant “significant deference to Commerce’s own interpretation” of the scope of its antidumping and countervailing duty orders, Duferco Steel, Inc. v. United States, 296 F.3d 1087, 1094-95 (Fed.Cir.2002) (citing Ericsson GE Mobile Commc’ns, Inc. v. United States, 60 F.3d 778, 782 (Fed.Cir.1995)), but Commerce cannot change the scope of such orders through interpretation, nor interpret them in a manner contrary to their terms, Eckstrom Indus., Inc. v. United States, 254 F.3d 1068, 1072 (Fed.Cir.2001).

Analysis

Commerce’s decision that the scope of the WBF Order encompasses Acme’s daybed with trundle is supported by substantial evidence on the record and otherwise in accordance with law. While the phrase “made substantially of wood products” in the scope of the antidumping duty order is susceptible of multiple interpretations, 70 Fed.Reg. at 332, Commerce’s interpretation of the phrase in this instance was reasonable. Commerce found an “extensive use” of wood products in all of the “essential structural components” of Plaintiffs bed, that wood is “integral” to the bed’s composition, and that “[i]f the wood were removed, there would be no bed.” Final Determination 11. Under such circumstances, Acme’s daybed with trundle can fairly be regarded as “made substantially of wood products.” Additionally, under the plain language of the scope, Commerce was justified in concluding that Acme’s daybed with trundle was covered by the WBF Order as a bed, and “not covered by the scope exclusions for sofa beds and completely upholstered beds.” Id. at 13. Commerce is correct that the scope does not solely pertain to items sold in sets; the WBF Order specifies that “[wjooden bedroom furniture is generally, but not exclusively, designed, manufactured, and offered for sale in coordinated groups, or bedrooms----” 70 Fed.Reg. at 332 (emphasis added).

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Bluebook (online)
825 F. Supp. 2d 1353, 2012 WL 992111, 34 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1374, 2012 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 45, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/acme-furniture-industry-inc-v-united-states-cit-2012.