Capella Sales & Services Ltd. v. United States

181 F. Supp. 3d 1255, 2016 CIT 86, 38 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1687, 2016 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 86, 2016 WL 4919977
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Capella Sales & Services Ltd. v. United States. Read the opinion of the Court — 180 F. Supp. 3d 1293
United States Court of International Trade·Decided September 14, 2016·No. Slip Op. 16-86; Court 15-00318·Published

Opinion

OPINION

Pogue, Senior Judge:

In this action, Capella Sales & Services Ltd. (“Plaintiff’ or “Capella”) 1 again 2 challenges the assessment of countervailing duties (“CVD”), at the rate of 374.15 percent ad valorem, on four of its entries of aluminum extrusions from the PRC. The U.S. Department of Commercé (“Defendant” or “Commerce”) assessed these duties by applying the all-others rate calculated in Aluminum Extrusions from the [PRC], 76 Fed. Reg. 18,521 (Dep’t Commerce Apr. 4, 2011) (final affirmative countervailing duty determination) (“Final CVD Determination”), rather than the (lower) “lawful [cash] deposit rate” calculated subsequently on remand and rede-termination of the same Final CVD Determination pursuant to litigation to which Capella was not a party. Compl., ECF No. 3, at ¶¶ 56, 58.

The result in this second action is directed by the Court’s opinion in Capella I: Because Capella’s complaint challenges Commerce’s . administration and enforcement of a CVD rate, the court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1581(i) (2012). However, because Plaintiff did not participate in, and have liquidation of its entries enjoined pursuant to, the litigation that resulted in the "lawful rate” calculated on remand and redetermination, it cannot claim entitlement to that rate for entries made prior to the effective date of the revised rate. See 19 U.S.C. §§ 1516a(c)(1), 1516a(e) (2012); Compl., ECF No. 3, at ¶ 7; cf. Capella I, — CIT at —, 180 F.Supp.3d at 1295, Slip Op. 16-72 at 3. Plaintiff has, therefore, failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. USCIT Rule 12(b)(6).

BACKGROUND

The background of this case is, in almost all respects, identical to the background provided in the Court’s opinion in Capella I, — CIT at —, 180 F.Supp.3d at 1295-99, Slip. Op. at 3-11. For ease of reference, we note here only that Commerce’s underlying CVD determination on aluminum extrusion from the PRC calculated an all-others rate of 374.15 percent ad valorem. Final CVD Determination, 76 Fed. Reg. at 18,523. Pursuant to the associated CVD Order, Commerce instructed U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“Customs”) to collect cash deposits for non-individually investigated’ companies at that all-others rate. Aluminum Extrusions from the [PRC], 76 Fed. Reg. 30,653, 30,655 (Dep’t Commerce May 26, 2011) (countervailing duty order) (“CVD Order”). Some respondents appealed this determination to this Court in MacLean-Fogg v. United States, Consol. Ct. No. 11-00209, 3 as a result of which, after multiple judicial opinions, 4 including an appeal to the Court of Appeals *1258 for the Federal Circuit (“CAFO”), 5 and agency redeterminations, 6 the all-others rate was reduced to 7.37 percent (the post-MacLean-Fogg rate). [Fourth] Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Ct. Remand, Consol. Ct. 11-209, ECF Nos. 124-1 (conf. ver.) & 125-1 (pub. ver.).

While the above was ongoing, Capella made four entries of aluminum extrusions from the PRC—two on November 28, 2011, one on March 20, and one on June 16, 2012. Capella mistakenly entered its merchandise as Type 01 (i.e., not subject to AD or CVD duties) rather than Type 03 (i.e., subject to AD or CVD duties). Compl., ECF No. 3, at ¶ 7; CBP Forms 7501 reproduced in Compl., ECF No. 3-1 at attach. 5; Protest, 4601-14-101149 (July 14, 2014), reproduced in Compl. ECF No. 3-1 at attach. 15.

Capella did not participate in the investigation underlying the CVD Order or the MacLean-Fogg litigation. Compl., ECF No. 3, at ¶ 7 (“Capella was unaware of the CVD Order.”). Nor did Capella participate in the first administrative review of the CVD Order. Id, at ¶ 10 (“[Capella] was not aware of’ the review and therefore “did not know to request a review”). Capella also did not participate in the second administrative review of the CVD Order. Id. at ¶ 22. Based on this lack of participation, Commerce instructed Customs to liquidate Capella’s entries at their cash deposit rate. CBP Message No. 2209305 (July 27, 2012), reproduced in Compl., ECF No. 3-1 at attach. 6; CBP Message No. 3197305 (July 16, 2013), reproduced in Compl., ECF No. 3-1 at attach. 10. 7

Capella filed its first action with this Court following the CAFC’s decision in MacLean-Fogg V, 753 F.3d 1237. Summons, Ct. No. 14-304, ECF No. 1; Compl., Ct. No. 14-304, ECF No. 2. In that case, as here, Capella challenged Commerce’s decision to assess the investigation rate, rather than a rate resulting from the Mac-Lean-Fogg litigation, on its entries. See Capella I, — CIT at —, 180 F.Supp.3d at 1301, 1301-02, Slip Op. 16-72 at 16, 18-19.

While Capella I was pending, Commerce made its fourth and final redetermination in MacLean-Fogg, establishing an all-others rate of 7.37 percent ad valorem. [Fourth] Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Ct. Remand, Consol. Ct. 11-209, ECF Nos. 124-1 (conf. ver.) & 125-1 (pub. ver.). This Court affirmed. Mac-Lean *1259 Fogg VIII, 106 F.Supp.3d 1356. Between this affirmance and publication of Commerce’s amended final CVD determination in the Federal Register, Capella sent a letter to Commerce arguing that “Commerce should adjust the effective date of the new all-others cash deposit rate of 7.37 percent to apply retroactively to all entries since [Aluminum Extrusions from the [PRC], 75 Fed. Reg. 54,302 (Dep’t Commerce Sept. 7, 2010) (preliminary affirmative CVD determination)].” Letter from Capella to Commerce (Oct. 29, 2015) at 2, reproduced in Compl., ECF No. 3-1 at attach. 17; see Compl., ECF No. 3, at ¶ 35. 8

Commerce did not adjust the effective date of the new all-others rate. Rather, Commerce published notice of the new all-others cash deposit rate with an effective date of November 2, 2015, Am. Final CVD Determination, 80 Fed. Reg. at 69,640-41, 9 and issued corresponding instructions to Customs. 10 Commerce also issued instructions to Customs to refund cash deposits made in excess of the new rate for entries made before the new cash deposit instructions (November 13, 2015) but after the effective date (November 2, 2015). 11

Capella then filed its second action—the instant action—again challenging the CVD rate assessed on its four entries. Summons, ECF No. 1; Compl., ECF No. 3. Capella challenges Commerce’s Am. Final CVD Determination, 80 Fed. Reg. 69,640, the corresponding Cash Deposit Instructions, ECF No. 3-1 at attach. 17, and Refund Instructions, ECF No. 3-1 at attach.

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

Capella Sales & Services Ltd. v. United States, 181 F. Supp. 3d 1255, 2016 CIT 86, 38 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1687, 2016 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 86, 2016 WL 4919977 (cit 2016).

181 F. Supp. 3d 1255 (Capella Sales & Services Ltd. v. United States) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Deseado International, Ltd. v. United States
600 F.3d 1377 (Federal Circuit, 2010)
Hemi Group, LLC v. City of New York
559 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 2010)
Bell v. Hood
327 U.S. 678 (Supreme Court, 1946)
Brown v. Gardner
513 U.S. 115 (Supreme Court, 1994)
Robinson v. Shell Oil Co.
519 U.S. 337 (Supreme Court, 1997)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Star Fruits s.n.c. v. United States
393 F.3d 1277 (Federal Circuit, 2005)
Gene A. Williams v. Secretary of the Navy
787 F.2d 552 (Federal Circuit, 1986)
Sioux Honey Ass'n v. Hartford Fire Insurance
672 F.3d 1041 (Federal Circuit, 2012)
Jcm, Ltd. v. United States
210 F.3d 1357 (Federal Circuit, 2000)
Shinyei Corporation of America v. United States
355 F.3d 1297 (Federal Circuit, 2004)
Royal United Corp. v. United States
714 F. Supp. 2d 1307 (Court of International Trade, 2010)
Decca Hospitality Furnishings, LLC v. United States
427 F. Supp. 2d 1249 (Court of International Trade, 2006)
MacLean-Fogg Co. v. United States
853 F. Supp. 2d 1336 (Court of International Trade, 2012)
Maclean-Fogg Co. v. United States
853 F. Supp. 2d 1253 (Court of International Trade, 2012)