Bond Street, Ltd. v. United States

2011 CIT 37
CourtUnited States Court of International Trade
DecidedApril 12, 2011
Docket08-00049
StatusErrata

This text of 2011 CIT 37 (Bond Street, Ltd. 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
Bond Street, Ltd. v. United States, 2011 CIT 37 (cit 2011).

Opinion

Slip Op. 11-37

UNITED STATES COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE

BOND STREET, LTD., :

Plaintiff, :

v. :

UNITED STATES, : Court No. 08-00049 Defendant, :

and :

GLEASON INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS, INC. : and PRECISION PRODUCTS, INC., : Defendant-Intervenors.

[Sustaining U.S. Department of Commerce’s remand determination reaffirming agency ruling that subject hand cart is within scope of antidumping duty order on hand trucks from the People’s Republic of China] Dated: April 12, 2011

James Caffentzis (James Caffentzis), for Plaintiff.

Tony West, Assistant Attorney General; Jeanne E. Davidson, Director, and Patricia M. McCarthy, Assistant Director, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice (Stephen C. Tosini and Joshua E. Kurland); Thomas M. Beline, Office of the Chief Counsel for Import Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Of Counsel; for Defendant.

Crowell & Moring, LLP (Matthew P. Jaffe), for Defendant-Intervenors.

OPINION

RIDGWAY, Judge:

Pending before the Court are the Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Court

Remand, filed by the U.S. Department of Commerce pursuant to the decision in Bond Street I. See Court No. 08-00049 Page 2

generally Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Court Remand: Hand Trucks and Certain

Parts Thereof from the People’s Republic of China (“Remand Results”); Bond Street, Ltd. v. United

States, 33 CIT ____, 637 F. Supp. 2d 1343 (2009) (“Bond Street I”).

Bond Street I remanded to Commerce the agency’s determination that the Stebco Portable

Slide-Flat Cart (style no. 390009 CHR) – imported by Plaintiff Bond Street, Ltd., a New York

importer of business and travel products – falls within the scope of the antidumping duty order on

hand trucks from the People’s Republic of China. See Bond Street I, 33 CIT at ____, 637 F. Supp.

2d at 1351-52; Hand Trucks and Certain Parts Thereof from the People’s Republic of China: Scope

Ruling on Stebco Portable Slide-Flat Cart Inv. No. A-570-891 (May 30, 2007) (Administrative

Record (“A.R.”) Doc. No. 12) (“Scope Ruling”);1 Notice of Antidumping Duty Order: Hand Trucks

and Certain Parts Thereof From the People’s Republic of China, 69 Fed. Reg. 70,122 (Dec. 2, 2004)

(“Antidumping Order”). In particular, Bond Street I ruled that Commerce’s Scope Ruling could not

be sustained because the agency had “failed to . . . make a determination as to whether the toe plate

of the Stebco cart can ‘slide[] under a load for purposes of lifting and/or moving the load,’” an

operational/functional requirement set forth in the Antidumping Order, and the central focus of this

litigation. See Bond Street I, 33 CIT at ____, 637 F. Supp. 2d at 1350 (quoting, inter alia,

Antidumping Order, 69 Fed. Reg. 70,122).

1 The complete administrative record in this action includes the record compiled by Commerce during the initial scope proceeding, as well as the record that the agency compiled in the course of the remand proceeding. Citations to documents in the administrative record of the initial scope proceeding are noted as “A.R. Doc. No. ____,” while citations to documents in the record of the remand proceeding – the supplemental administrative record – are noted as “S.A.R. Doc. No. ____.” Court No. 08-00049 Page 3

On remand, Commerce “found through testing [of ] Bond Street’s Stebco Cart that [the cart]

is adept at sliding under a load for the purposes of lifting/moving that load. Additionally, once the

projecting edge/toe plate is slid under a load, the projecting edge/toe plate remain[s] stable and there

[is] no difficulty in lifting and moving the load.” See Remand Results at 4; see also id. at 1, 3-4, 9-

10, 12. Commerce thus concluded that – in addition to possessing the four specific physical

characteristics required by the Antidumping Order – the Stebco cart also has “the operational and

functional ability to slide under a load for the purposes of lifting and/or moving that load.” See id.

at 4; see also id. at 1-2, 10, 12. Commerce’s Remand Results therefore reaffirmed the agency’s

earlier determination that the Stebco cart falls within the scope of the Antidumping Order. See

Remand Results at 1-2, 9, 12.

Bond Street contends that “the tests conducted by [Commerce] do not provide a basis for .

. . find[ing] that the Stebco [cart] . . . slide[s] under a load” within the meaning of the Antidumping

Order, and that the agency failed to properly consider certain tests conducted by Bond Street and

the agency itself. See Plaintiff’s Comments on Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Court

Remand (“Pl.’s Brief”) at 2, 3. In addition, Bond Street critiques the adequacy of Commerce’s

explanation of its remand determination, and raises various other procedural objections. See, e.g.,

id. at 3-4. Bond Street concludes that the Remand Results are not supported by substantial evidence

in the record, and are otherwise not in accordance with law. See generally id.; Plaintiff’s Reply to

Defendant’s Response to Bond Street’s Comments Upon Commerce’s Remand Results (“Pl.’s Reply

Brief”). Bond Street argues that the Court therefore should “reject Commerce’s remand results and Court No. 08-00049 Page 4

either remand the matter once again . . . , or alternatively enter judgment for Bond Street based upon

the facts of record.” See Pl.’s Reply Brief at 6.

In contrast, the Government and the Defendant-Intervenors – Gleason Industrial Products,

Inc. and Precision Products, Inc. (collectively, “Domestic Manufacturers”) – contend that the

Remand Results comply fully with the instructions in Bond Street I, and are both supported by

substantial evidence and otherwise in accordance with law. The Government and the Domestic

Manufacturers therefore argue that Commerce’s remand determination should be sustained in all

respects. See generally Comments on Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Court Remand

(“Def.-Ints.’ Brief”); Defendant’s Response to Bond Street’s Comments Upon Commerce’s Remand

Results (“Def.’s Brief”).

Jurisdiction lies under 28 U.S.C. § 1581(c) (2000). For the reasons set forth below, the

Remand Results, including Commerce’s remand determination concluding that the Stebco cart is

within the scope of the Antidumping Order, must be sustained.

I. Background

In December 2004, the Department of Commerce published an antidumping duty order

covering hand trucks and certain parts thereof from the People’s Republic of China. See Notice of

Antidumping Duty Order: Hand Trucks and Certain Parts Thereof From the People’s Republic of

China, 69 Fed. Reg. 70,122 (Dec. 2, 2004) (“Antidumping Order”). The first section of the

Antidumping Order (captioned “Scope of Order”) expressly defines the covered merchandise,

identifying four specific required physical characteristics, in addition to the operational/functional

requirement that is at issue in this action: Court No. 08-00049 Page 5

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Consolo v. Federal Maritime Commission
383 U.S. 607 (Supreme Court, 1966)
United States v. Eurodif S. A.
555 U.S. 305 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Walgreen Co. of Deerfield, Il v. United States
620 F.3d 1350 (Federal Circuit, 2010)
NMB Singapore Ltd. v. United States
557 F.3d 1316 (Federal Circuit, 2009)
Tak Fat Trading Company v. United States
396 F.3d 1378 (Federal Circuit, 2005)
Diamond Sawblades Manufacturers Coalition v. United States
650 F. Supp. 2d 1331 (Court of International Trade, 2009)
Bond Street, Ltd. v. United States
637 F. Supp. 2d 1343 (Court of International Trade, 2009)
Diversified Products Corp. v. United States
572 F. Supp. 883 (Court of International Trade, 1983)
Duferco Steel, Inc. v. United States
296 F.3d 1087 (Federal Circuit, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2011 CIT 37, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bond-street-ltd-v-united-states-cit-2011.