Daido Corp. v. United States

18 Ct. Int'l Trade 779, 862 F. Supp. 373, 18 C.I.T. 779, 16 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 2121, 1994 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 161
CourtUnited States Court of International Trade
DecidedAugust 25, 1994
DocketConsolidated Court No. 93-06-00311
StatusPublished

This text of 18 Ct. Int'l Trade 779 (Daido Corp. 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
Daido Corp. v. United States, 18 Ct. Int'l Trade 779, 862 F. Supp. 373, 18 C.I.T. 779, 16 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 2121, 1994 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 161 (cit 1994).

Opinion

Opinion

Carman, Judge:

Plaintiffs (Daido) move for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction enjoining the Department of Commerce (Commerce) from conducting an administrative review of Roller Chain, Other Than Bicycle, From Japan, 38 Fed. Reg. 9226 (Dep’t Treas. 1973) for the period April 1,1992 through March 31,1993. Plaintiffs seek to enjoin Commerce from conducting this review during the pendency of the instant litigation which challenges Roller Chain, Other Than Bicycle, From Japan, 58 Fed. Reg. 30,769 (Dep’t Comm. 1993) (final results) and any appeal thereof. In the underlying action, plaintiffs argue Commerce improperly withheld revocation in the 1990-1991 review.

Background

Daido Kogyo Co., Ltd. and Enuma Chain Manufacturing Co., Ltd. are Japanese manufacturers of roller chain. Daido Corporation is an importer of roller chain manufactured in Japan by Daido Kogyo and Enuma Chain. Defendant-intervenor, is a trade association, a majority of whose members produce roller chain in the United States.

Commerce has conducted numerous administrative reviews of plaintiffs since 1973 when it determined roller chain, other than bicycle, imported from Japan was being sold at less than fair value. See Roller Chain, Other Than Bicycle, From Japan, 38 Fed. Reg. 9226 (1973). Of these administrative reviews, in only the 1979-1980 review Commerce determined plaintiffs had above de minimis dumping margins. See Roller Chain, Other Than Bicycle, From Japan, 46 Fed. Reg. 44,488 (Dep’t Comm. 1981) (final results).

[780]*780Plaintiffs have attempted to obtain revocation of the dumping determination since the mid-1970’s. In 1977, Customs published tentative revocations and started an investigation to determine whether there were any sales at less than fair value through the tentative revocation date. See 19 C.F.R. § 153.44 (1977). After jurisdiction to conduct such investigations passed to Commerce, the agency never completed the investigation. Finally, in 1991, Commerce published a notice directing all shipments manufactured by plaintiffs imported prior to April 1,1979 be liquidated without the assessment of any dumping duties. Roller Chain, Other Than Bicycle, From Japan, 56 Fed. Reg. 19,345 (Dep’t Comm. 1991) (partial termin. of admin, reviews).

Following the completion in November 1983 of Commerce’s administrative review for the period April 1, 1980 through March 31, 1981, plaintiffs again requested revocation. Before Commerce could consider the revocation request, it was required to complete the April 1, 1981 through March31,1982 administrative review. See 19 C.F.R. § 353.54(b) (1983) (requiring respondent to demonstrate it made no sales at less than fair value for a two year period). Commerce, however, did not complete this review until May 13,1987. Roller Chain, Other Than Bicycle, From Japan, 52 Fed. Reg. 18,004 (Dep’t Comm. 1987) (final results). Although, plaintiffs had complied with Commerce’s regulations, Commerce chose not to revoke and conducted an administrative review for the period April 1,1986 through March 31,1987. After finding only de minimis margins, Commerce stated it intended to revoke the dumping finding with respect to plaintiffs. Roller Chain, Other Than Bicycle, From Japan, 56 Fed. Reg. 23,277, 23,278 (Dep’t Comm. 1991) (prelim, results).

On June 28,1991, defendant-intervenor, American Chain, submitted an anonymous confidential letter which alleged reliability and credibility problems in plaintiffs’ data submissions to Commerce. Commerce subsequently declined to revoke the dumping finding based on Freeport Minerals Co. v. United States, 4 Fed. Cir. (T) 16, 776 F.2d 1029 (1985) which indicates Commerce should not base revocation determinations ton information more than three years old.” Roller Chain, Other Than Bicycle From Japan, 56 Fed. Reg. 50,092, 50,093 (Dep’t Comm. 1991) (final results). Commerce stated the anonymous letter was moot as it pertained to revocation. Id.

At American Chain’s request, Commerce initiated reviews for both the 1991-1992 and 1992-1993 periods. Commerce initiated the 1991-1992 review and distributed questionnaires to Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs did not answer the questionnaires and instead sought to enjoin Commerce from requiring questionnaires for the 1991-1992 administrative review until the conclusion of the 1990-1991 administrative review. Senior Judge Bernard Newman of this Court refused to grant the injunctive relief sought. Daido Corp. v. United States, 16 CIT 681, 796 F. Supp. 533 (1992) (Daido I). Subsequent to the Court’s ruling, Commerce issued preliminary results and refused to consider revoca[781]*781tion of the dumping order because of confidential information it had in its possession. Roller Chain, Other Than Bicycle, From Japan, 57 Fed. Reg. 41,471 (Dep’t Comm. 1992) (prelim, results).

Plaintiffs again applied to the Court for injunctive relief. Judge Aqui-lino granted plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction enjoining Commerce from proceeding with the 1991-1992 review “pending completion of similar proceedings for the preceding year April 1990 to March 31,1991 and any judicial review of the result(s) thereof.” Daido Corp. v. United States, 16 CIT 987, 998, 807 F. Supp. 1571, 1580 (1992) (Daido II).

After concluding its administrative review on May 27, 1993 for the period April 1, 1990 through March 31,1991 and finding de minimis margins, Commerce declined to revoke. Roller Chain, Other Than Bicycle, From Japan, 58 Fed. Reg. at 30,769. Commerce based its decision not to revoke on the anonymous confidential letter which prevented it from concluding that less than fair value sales would not occur in the future. Id. at 30,773-74.

On October 25,1993, plaintiffs sought to enjoin Commerce from conducting the 1992-1993 administrative review. Plaintiffs withdrew their motion when Commerce requested a remand to reconsider its decision not to revoke. On June 27, 1994, Commerce again refused to revoke based upon Customs’ investigation of the business practices of plaintiffs. Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Court Remand, Daido Corp. v. United States (1994). Commerce indicated in its remand results that Customs’ investigation was not yet complete. Id. at 4. Based upon the remand results, plaintiffs renewed their motion for injunctive relief to enjoin Commerce from continuing the 1992-1993 administrative review. Plaintiffs have not responded to questionnaires for the 1992-1993 administrative review.

Contentions of the Parties

Plaintiffs argue they satisfy the four-part requirement for injunctive relief in that (1) they will be irreparably harmed because they will lose their statutorily-guaranteed right to judicial review of the decision not to revoke the dumping finding in the context of the 1990-1991 review; (2) they have a reasonable chance of succeeding on the merits; (3) the balance of hardships favors plaintiffs; and (4) the public interest favors granting the injunction.

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18 Ct. Int'l Trade 779, 862 F. Supp. 373, 18 C.I.T. 779, 16 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 2121, 1994 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 161, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/daido-corp-v-united-states-cit-1994.