Jinxiang Yuanxin Import & Export Co. v. United States

71 F. Supp. 3d 1338, 37 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1069, 2015 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 30, 2015 WL 1600442
CourtUnited States Court of International Trade
DecidedMarch 23, 2015
DocketSlip Op. 15-22; Court No. 11-00145
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 71 F. Supp. 3d 1338 (Jinxiang Yuanxin Import & Export Co. 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
Jinxiang Yuanxin Import & Export Co. v. United States, 71 F. Supp. 3d 1338, 37 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1069, 2015 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 30, 2015 WL 1600442 (cit 2015).

Opinion

[1341]*1341 OPINION

EATON, Senior Judge:

Before the court are the Department of Commerce’s (the “Department” or “Commerce”) Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Remand, dated November 22, 2013. Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Remand (ECF Dkt. No. 79) (“Remand Results”). The court remanded Commerce’s final determination in Garlic From the People’s Republic of China, 76 Fed. Reg. 19,322 (Dep’t of Commerce Apr. 7, 2011) (rescission of antidumping duty new shipper reviews), and the accompanying Final Bona Fides Memorandum (Dep’t of Commerce Mar. 31, 2011) (collectively, the “Rescission”), in which the Department rescinded plaintiff Jinxiang Yuanxin Import & Export Co., Ltd.’s (“plaintiff’ or “Yuanxin”) new shipper review under the antidumping duty order on fresh garlic from the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”).1 See Mem. from Mark Hoadley, Program Manager, AD/CVD Operations, Import Administration, to Barbara E. Tillman, Office Director, AD/CVD Operations, Import Administration, PD 130, CD 55 (Mar. 31, 2011), ECF Dkt. No. 31 (“Bona Fides Mem.”); Fresh Garlic From the PRC, 59 Fed. Reg. 59,209 (Dep’t of Commerce Nov. 16, 1994) (antidumping duty order). Although sustaining Commerce’s determination that atypical factors indicative of a non-bona fide sale surrounded Yuanxin’s transaction, the court on remand directed Commerce to support its bona fides analysis of Yuanxin’s sales price and quantity with substantial evidence. See Jinxiang Yuanxin Imp. & Exp. Co. v. United States, 37 CIT -, -, Slip Op. 13-77, at 24-25, 2013 WL 3455706 (2013) (“Yuanxin I ”).

In its Remand Results, Commerce continued to find that Yuanxin’s sale of single-clove garlic was not bona fide and that plaintiffs new shipper review was properly rescinded. See Remand Results at 7. Plaintiff filed comments to the Remand Results, arguing that Commerce’s analysis was “severely flawed and not based on substantial evidence,” and asked the court to remand this case for a second time. Comments on Final Results of Redetermi-nation Pursuant to Ct. Order 7 (ECF Dkt. No. 84) (“Pl.’s Comments”). Defendant United States (“defendant”) and defendant-intervenors, the Fresh Garlic Producers Association and its individual members, Christopher Ranch, L.L.C., The Garlic Company, Valley Garlic, and Ves-sey and Company, Inc. (collectively, “defendant-intervenors”),2 filed comments in support of the Department’s determination, and urged the court to sustain the Remand Results in their entirety. See Def.’s Resp. to Pl.’s Comments on the Remand Redetermination (ECF Dkt. No. 99) (“Def.’s Comments”); Def.-ints.’ Responsive Comments on Redetermination Pursuant to Ct. Order (ECF Dkt. No. 96) (“Def.-ints.’ Comments”). The court has jurisdiction pursuant . to 28 U.S.C. § 1581(c) and 19 U.S.C. § 1516a(a)(2)(B)(iii).

For the reasons set forth below, the court holds that Commerce’s determination, that Yuanxin’s sale was not bona fide, and the resulting rescission of plaintiffs new shipper review are supported by substantial evidence and otherwise in accordance with law. In addition, the court finds that the Department’s alternative methodology for analyzing the bona fide nature of Yuanxin’s sales price in the Remand Results complies with the court’s [1342]*1342order in Yuanxin I. Thus, the Remand Results are sustained.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

“The court shall hold unlawful any determination, finding, or conclusion found ... to be unsupported by substantial evidence on the record, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” 19 U.S.C. § 1516a(b)(l)(B)(i). “The results of a re-determination pursuant to court remand are also reviewed for compliance with the court’s remand order.” Yantai Xinke Steel Structure Co. v. United States, 38 CIT -, -, Slip. Op. 14-38, at 4, 2014 WL 1387529 (2014) (quoting Xinjiamei Furniture (Zhangzhou) Co. v. United States, 38 CIT -, —, 968 F.Supp.2d 1255, 1259 (2014)).

DISCUSSION

I. BACKGROUND

This, matter was originally before the court on Yuanxin’s challenge to (1) Commerce’s final determination that Yuanxin’s sale of single-clove garlic during the period of review, November 1, 2008 through October 31, 2009 (“POR”), was not bona fide, and (2) the Department’s rescission of plaintiffs new shipper review. See Rescission, 76 Fed. Reg. at 19,322. In the Rescission, Commerce determined that Yu-anxin’s sale was not bona fide for three reasons: “(1) Yuanxin’s sale price [was] so high as to be commercially unreasonable and not indicative of future sales, (2) Yu-anxin’s sales quantity [was] not representative of the garlic industry, and (3) the structure of Yuanxin’s U.S. sale [was] of an unusual nature.” Rescission, 76 Fed. Reg. at 19,324.

In reaching this conclusion, Commerce noted that Yuanxin3 made one sale of single-clove garlic to its unaffiliated U.S. customer (“U.S. customer”),4 a sporting and athletic goods manufacturer, which did not purchase garlic from any other source during or after the POR.5 Letter from David B. Da, D & B Consultants Co., Ltd., to Secretary of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce at 27, PD 44 (June 4, 2010), ECF Dkt. No. 31. After purchasing the single-clove garlic, Yuanxin’s U.S. customer immediately resold the merchandise to a U.S. wholesaler6 that had previously purchased single-clove garlic from another exporter, Jinxiang Hejia Co., Ltd. (“Jinx-iang' Hejia”),7 during the prior period of [1343]*1343review.8 See Bona Fides Mem. at 8.

The Department compared Yuanxin’s single-clove garlic sales price to the “U.S. Customs and Border Protection (‘Customs’) data run containing all entries of merchandise exported to the United States from the PRC during the POR under U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule (‘HTSUS’)[9] category 0703.20.0010 for ‘Garlic, Fresh Whole Bulbs,’ a category that includes both single-clove and multi-clove fresh, whole garlic bulbs.” Yuanxin I, 37 CIT at -, Slip Op. 13-77, at 7-8 (citing Bona Fides Mem. at 4). The Customs data, which represented predominantly multi-clove garlic imports, yielded an average unit value (“AUV”) for the subject merchandise.10 See Bona Fides Mem. at 6. In making this comparison, Commerce diverged from its practice in Jinxiang Hejia Co. v. United States, an appeal to this Court of a review of the antidumping duty order on fresh garlic from the PRC during the prior period of review, in which the Department had found single-clove garlic bulbs to be “unique,” such that a price comparison between single-clove and mul-ti-clove garlic was inappropriate. Yuanxin I, 37 CIT at -, Slip Op. 13-77, at 13 (citing Jinxiang Hejia Co. v. United States, 35 CIT -, -, Slip Op. 11-112, at 6, 2011 WL 3915675 (2011) (“Hejia ”)).

In Yuanxin I, the court held that (1) Commerce had failed to explain adequately its departure from the practice it had established in Hejia

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71 F. Supp. 3d 1338, 37 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1069, 2015 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 30, 2015 WL 1600442, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jinxiang-yuanxin-import-export-co-v-united-states-cit-2015.