American Grape Growers Alliance for Fair Trade v. United States

15 Ct. Int'l Trade 316, 771 F. Supp. 363, 15 C.I.T. 316, 13 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1595, 1991 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 208
CourtUnited States Court of International Trade
DecidedJuly 10, 1991
DocketCourt No. 84-4-00575
StatusPublished

This text of 15 Ct. Int'l Trade 316 (American Grape Growers Alliance for Fair Trade 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
American Grape Growers Alliance for Fair Trade v. United States, 15 Ct. Int'l Trade 316, 771 F. Supp. 363, 15 C.I.T. 316, 13 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1595, 1991 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 208 (cit 1991).

Opinion

Memorandum Opinion and Order

Watson, Senior Judge:

This case is before the court pursuant to an April 17, 1986 order of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) remanding the case for reconsideration, and instructing this court to vacate its judgment granting plaintiffs motion for summary judgment, 1 The action challenged negative preliminary determinations of the International Trade Commission (ITC) at the first stage of countervailing duty and antidumping investigations of ordinary table wine from France and Italy.2

Background

On January 27,1984, petitions were filed with the ITC and the United States Department of Commerce on behalf of the American Grape Growers .Alliance for Fair Trade. The parties alleged that imports of certain table wines from France and Italy were being subsidized, and sold in the United States at less than fair value. The ITC accordingly instituted preliminary countervailing duty and antidumping investigations [317]*317pursuant to §§ 703(a) (19 U.S.C. § 1671b(a)) and 733(a) (19 U.S.C. § 1673b(a)) of the Tariff Act of 1930.3

On March 21,1984, the ITC issued its negative preliminary determination, finding no “reasonable indication that an industry in the United States is materially injured, or threatened with material injury, nor is the establishment of an industry in the United States materially retarded, by reason of imports from France and Italy of certain table wine * * * which are alleged to be subsidized [or] sold in the United States at less than fair value.” 49 Fed. Reg. 10,587 (1984). As a result, Commerce terminated its investigation of ordinary table wine from Italy and France.

On April 19,1984, plaintiffs filed a complaint before this court in response to the ITC’s determination. The plaintiffs consist of cooperatives and associations involved in the production of ordinary table wines, 4 are parties to these antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings before Commerce and the ITC, and are “interested parties” within the meaning of 19 U.S.C. §§ 1677 (9)(c) and 1677(9)(E).5

In their complaint, plaintiffs allege that the ITC’s determinations are arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, unsupported by substantial evidence, and not in accordance with law, in that:

—the ITC imposed a standard of proof that is inappropriate and excessive in comparison to the statutory requirements of 19 U.S.C. §§ 1671b(a) and 1673b(a), and failed to appropriately consider plaintiffs’ prima facie case.
—the ITC’s determinations were not based on the best evidence available, as required by the statute, and that it failed to consider all information, including accessible, publicly available data, and failed to consider the requisite thorough investigation.
—the questionnaires used by ITC to elicit relevant data were fatally flawed because they failed to clearly specify the information sought.
[318]*318—the ITC erroneously placed on plaintiffs the burden of proof to provide it with all necessary information.
—the ITC erroneously confined its analyses of import penetration and price to data covering a three year period, notwithstanding that information covering a longer period was before it, and that the ITC had examined a longer period of time considering other relevant criteria.
—the ITC erroneously determined that the volume and market share of the subject table wine imported from France are very small and not a cause of the domestic industry’s financial problems, which it admits exist, and because the ITC failed to find that the volume of imports, or any increase in that volume, is significant, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1677(7) (C)(i).
—in reaching its negative determination regarding underselling or price suppression by reason of imports from France and from Italy, the ITC failed to use the best information available, and ignored the 19 U.S.C. § 1677(7)(C)(ii) requirement that the ITC consider the effect of imports in depressing or suppressing price increases which would have occurred otherwise.
—the ITC’s determination that the market share held by wines from Italy is flat and not a cause of the domestic industry’s financial problems, which the ITC admits exist, are not in accordance with 19 U.S.C. § 1677(7)(C)(i), which directs the commission to consider whether the volume of imports is significant in absolute terms, or relative to production or consumption in the United States.
—in reaching its determination, the ITC placed undue emphasis on the existence of underselling and lost sales to the exclusion of other indicia of injury, and neglected its duty to consider all factors affecting the domestic industry.
—the ITC erroneously determined that decline in the domestic prices was solely attributable to competition between domestic wineries, and not the result of imports of ordinary table wine from Italy and France subsidized and sold at less than fair value.
—the ITC erroneously determined not to cumulate the impact on the domestic industry of imports from Italy and France, based on conclusions that ordinary table wines from Italy and France are not alike, and not marketed to the same customers through the same distribution system.
—the ITC erroneously excluded domestic growers of grapes used to produce ordinary table wine.
—the ITC failed to give suffcient weight to the legislative direction that antidumping and countervailing duty cases involving agricultural products are to be accorded special treatment due to their unique situation.
—the ITC erroneously determined that shipments by domestic wineries increased during the period investigation, because the ITC ignored shipment volume data pertaining to the like product produced in the United States, and instead used information on a broader product category, which includes categories of wine [319]*319excluded from the investigations by its own definition of “like product.”
—the ITC erroneously determined not to exclude certain domestic producers of ordinary table wine that also import the same from Italy and France.

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15 Ct. Int'l Trade 316, 771 F. Supp. 363, 15 C.I.T. 316, 13 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1595, 1991 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 208, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/american-grape-growers-alliance-for-fair-trade-v-united-states-cit-1991.