Cheng Shin Rubber Industry Co., Ltd. v. United States

551 F. Supp. 684, 4 Ct. Int'l Trade 224, 4 C.I.T. 224, 1982 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 1966
CourtUnited States Court of International Trade
DecidedNovember 19, 1982
DocketCourt 82-3-00332
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 551 F. Supp. 684 (Cheng Shin Rubber Industry Co., 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
Cheng Shin Rubber Industry Co., Ltd. v. United States, 551 F. Supp. 684, 4 Ct. Int'l Trade 224, 4 C.I.T. 224, 1982 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 1966 (cit 1982).

Opinion

Opinion and Order

MALETZ, Judge:

This matter is before the court on defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint. Plaintiff Cheng Shin Rubber Industry Company, Ltd. (Cheng Shin) is a Taiwanese manufacturer of bicycle tires and tubes subject to a countervailing duty order issued on February 17, 1982. 47 Fed.Reg. 6913. In the present action Cheng Shin challenges the final affirmative determination by the International Trade Administration of the Department of Commerce (ITA) which gave rise to the countervailing duty order.

Defendant has moved to dismiss Cheng Shin’s complaint on three grounds: (1) lack of subject matter jurisdiction; (2) lack of standing; and (3) failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. For the *685 reasons set out below, the court concludes that since the ITA’s determination was governed by the law in effect prior to enactment of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, Cheng Shin, as a foreign manufacturer and exporter, lacks standing to challenge the ITA’s countervailing duty determination.

Background

This action had its genesis in an American manufacturer’s petition filed by intervenor Carlisle Tire and Rubber Company (Carlisle), a domestic manufacturer of bicycle tires and tubes, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1516(a) (1976). Carlisle sought the imposition of countervailing duties on Taiwanese bicycle tires and tubes. Following the filing of Carlisle’s section 1516 petition, a notice of final countervailing duty determination was published in the Federal Register on January 8, 1979. 44 Fed.Reg. 1815. That notice stated that the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) (the agency responsible for administration of the countervailing duty laws prior to enactment of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979) had determined that benefits had been paid by the Government of Taiwan on the manufacture and exportation of bicycle tires and tubes. The notice went on to conclude, however, that those benefits involved an aggregate amount considered to be de minimis and that, therefore, no bounty or grant was being paid or bestowed, directly or indirectly, within the meaning of section 303 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, 19 U.S.C. § 1303 (1976).

On March 8, 1979, Carlisle filed suit in this court challenging this determination. The court held that while the de minimis doctrine was applicable to cases arising under the countervailing duty statute, it concluded that the action should be remanded for “further inquiries as may be needed to determine the ad valorem benefit provided the Taiwanese bicycle tire and tube manufacturers by the Government of Taiwan.” Carlisle Tire & Rubber Co. v. United States, 1 CIT 352,-, 517 F.Supp. 704, 709 (1981). Accordingly, the action was stayed, the Treasury determination vacated, and the case remanded with the direction that a redetermination “be made in accordance with the countervailing duty law in effect prior to January 1,1980. See Pub.L. 96-39, Title X, §§ 1002(b)(1)(B) and (2), 93 Stat. 307.” Id.

Pursuant to the remand, the countervailing duty investigation was reopened in order to obtain the additional information required by the court. On the basis of information received during the reopened investigation, defendant submitted a notice of redetermination to the court. This notice stated that bicycle tires and tubes manufactured by Cheng Shin received bounties or grants within the meaning of 19 U.S.C. § 1303 (1976) in the net amount of 0.893 percent ad valorem. 46 Fed.Reg. 53201-3 (1981).

On November 16, 1981, Carlisle advised the court that it acquiesced in this redetermination. On November 17,1981, the court affirmed the results of this redetermination and directed the Secretary of Commerce to issue a countervailing duty order with respect to bicycle tires and tubes manufactured by Cheng Shin. 2 CIT — , Slip Op. 81-104.

On February 17, 1982, the ITA published its countervailing duty order, directing the Customs Service to collect a cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties of 0.893 percent ad valorem on Cheng Shin’s merchandise entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after October 28, 1981. 47 Fed.Reg. 6913-4. On April 2, 1982 Cheng Shin filed this action contesting this redetermination.

Opinion

Against this background we turn to a consideration of the jurisdictional allegations in Cheng Shin’s complaint. Cheng Shin asserts two grounds for this court’s jurisdiction. The first rests on the countervailing duty lav/ as amended by the Trade Agreements Act of 1979. The second is based on the countervailing duty law as it existed prior to the enactment of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979.

*686 As to its first contention, Cheng Shin, in its capacity as a foreign manufacturer and exporter of the subject merchandise, arguably would have standing to bring this action as an “interested party” within the meaning of sections 516A(a)(2)(A), 516A(d) and 771(9)(A) of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, 19 U.S.C. §§ 1516a(a)(2)(A), 1516a(d) and 1677(9)(A) (Supp. IV 1980), respectively. However, in this court’s remand in the Carlisle case it was made clear that in view of the transitional rules of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, the law in effect prior to enactment of that Act would apply in the reopened investigation. Those transitional rules provide, first, that the Trade Agreements Act shall not apply to actions such as the Carlisle case which were commenced before the effective date of that Act. 1 Second, section 1002(b)(2) of those rules directs that the law in effect on the date of a countervailing duty determination be applied in any action in this court contesting that determination. 2

In its remand the court directed that the countervailing duty investigation be reopened solely for the limited purpose of determining the amount of the ad valorem benefit provided Taiwanese bicycle tire and tube manufacturers. The remainder of the determination was left undisturbed. Thus, the redetermination of which Cheng Shin complains merely represents a modification of the final determination issued under the former law. It is one of the last links in an unbroken chain of administrative and judicial proceedings. The countervailing duty provisions of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, therefore, are inapplicable to the ITA’s redetermination which Cheng Shin challenges here. Jurisdiction on the basis of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 must, accordingly, fail.

Cheng Shin’s alternative jurisdictional ground is similarly unavailing. It alleges jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.

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551 F. Supp. 684, 4 Ct. Int'l Trade 224, 4 C.I.T. 224, 1982 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 1966, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cheng-shin-rubber-industry-co-ltd-v-united-states-cit-1982.