Mazak Corporation v. United States

659 F. Supp. 2d 1352, 33 Ct. Int'l Trade 1637, 33 C.I.T. 1637, 31 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 2252, 2009 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 132
CourtUnited States Court of International Trade
DecidedOctober 29, 2009
DocketSlip Op. 09-124; Court 06-00393
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 659 F. Supp. 2d 1352 (Mazak Corporation 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
Mazak Corporation v. United States, 659 F. Supp. 2d 1352, 33 Ct. Int'l Trade 1637, 33 C.I.T. 1637, 31 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 2252, 2009 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 132 (cit 2009).

Opinion

OPINION

GOLDBERG, Senior Judge.

Plaintiff Mazak Corporation (“Mazak”) is contesting the denials of Protest Nos. 3001-06-100270 and 3001-06-100272 by the United States Customs and Border Protection (“Customs”). During the administrative review period from May 1, 2003 to April 30, 2004, Mazak imported antifriction bearings into the United States that fell within the scope of the antidumping duty order, Antidumping Duty Orders: Ball Bearings, Cylindrical Roller Bearings, and Spherical Plain Bearings, and Parts Thereof from Japan (A-588-804), 54 Fed.Reg. 20,904 (Dep’t Commerce May 15, 1989). Upon importation, Mazak paid the antidumping duty cash deposit rate required by Customs. See 19 U.S.C. § 1505(a) (2006). Mazak’s entries were filed using the antidumping duty case number for Nippon Seiko K.K. (“NSK”), a Japanese company. At the conclusion of the administrative review period, the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration (“Commerce”) published an opportunity to request an administrative review of this antidumping duty order in the Federal Register pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 351.213(b) (2002). Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or Suspended Investigation: Opportunity to Request Administrative Review, 69 Fed.Reg. 24,117 (Dep’t Commerce May 3, 2004). Pursuant to the requests received, Commerce initiated a review of several companies. Initiation of Anti-dumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews and Request for Revocation in Part, 69 Fed.Reg. 39,409 (Dep’t Commerce June 30, 2004) (“Notice of Initiation of Review ”).

Commerce instructed Customs to suspend all entries for companies under review until further notice. Pursuant to these instructions, Customs suspended liquidation for entries identified as NSK merchandise, which included Mazak’s entries. Commerce published its final results of the administrative review on September 16, 2005. Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews, 70 Fed.Reg. 54,711 (Dep’t Commerce Sept. 16, 2005) (“Final Results ”). On October 21, 2005, Commerce published an amendment to the Final Results. Notice of Amended Final Results of Antidumping Duty Adminis *1355 trative Reviews: Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from Japan, 70 Fed.Reg. 61,252 (Dep’t Commerce Oct. 21, 2005) (“Amended Results ”). Commerce issued a correction to the Amended Results on November 15, 2005. Notice of Correction to Amended Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from Japan, 70 Fed. Reg. 69,316 (Dep’t Commerce Nov. 15, 2005).

Upon conclusion of the review, Commerce instructed Customs to liquidate entries at the assessed rates calculated during the administrative review. See 19 C.F.R. § 351.212(b)(1) (2009). On March 31, 2006 and April 7, 2006, Customs liquidated Mazak’s entries at the higher “all-others” antidumping duty rate in accordance with the instructions issued by Commerce; Mazak paid the amounts requested. It filed the protests in question in this case on June 30, 2006. Customs denied both protests and Mazak proceeded to commence action in this Court. Following discovery, Mazak filed a motion for partial summary judgment. The Defendant filed a cross-motion for summary judgment.

Once a statutory or court-ordered suspension is removed, Customs must liquidate any entries within six months “after receiving notice of the removal from the Department of Commerce, other agency, or a court with jurisdiction over the entry.” 19 U.S.C. § 1504(d) (2006). Any entry not liquidated within the requisite six-month period shall be deemed liquidated at the amount originally asserted by the importer at the time of entry. Id. The issue at bar is exactly what event constituted the “notice of the removal” by Commerce triggering the six-month liquidation time clock to commence. Mazak states that no review was specifically requested of it or of its parent company Yamazaki Mazak Trading Company (“Yamazaki Mazak”), the reseller from which Mazak imported the antifriction bearings. Because of this fact, Mazak contends that the review did not pertain to it and Customs should have liquidated Mazak’s entries within six months of the publication of the Notice of Initiation of Review; that is by December 30, 2004. In the alternative, Mazak argues that the publication date of Commerce’s Final Results, and not that of the Amended Results, began the ticking of the six-month clock. According to this argument, the entries should have been liquidated by March 16, 2006. The entries were actually liquidated on March 31, 2006 and April 7, 2006, outside of this proposed six-month window. The Defendant (or “the Government”) claims that the six-month liquidation period may not begin until the issuance of the Amended Results, which occurred on October 21, 2005 and would extend the six-month period until April 21, 2006.

Because of the reasons articulated below, this court finds that the publication date of the Final Results, and not that of the Amended Results, dictated the commencement of the statutory six-month liquidation period. The liquidation period in this case concluded on March 16, 2006. Mazak’s entries were thus liquidated too late and are deemed liquidated by operation of law at the cash deposit rate.

The Defendant filed a cross-motion for summary judgment arguing a jurisdictional defect as to certain entries included in Protest No. 3001-06-100270. The Defendant argues that the protest was not timely filed. As discussed further below, the timeliness of both protests creates a jurisdictional bar as to any entry liquidated on March 31, 2006. With respect to those entries, the Court severs and dismisses the claims for lack of jurisdiction.

*1356 I. JURISDICTION AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

The Court has jurisdiction over this case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1581(a) (2006) for the contest of the denial of protests filed under Section 515 of the Tariff Act of 1930.

Summary judgment is appropriate if no genuine issues of material fact exist. USCIT R. 56(c). The moving party bears the burden of demonstrating the absence of any issues of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The non-moving party is “entitled to have both the evidence viewed in the light most favorable to it and all doubts resolved in its favor.” Guess? Inc. v. United States,

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Bluebook (online)
659 F. Supp. 2d 1352, 33 Ct. Int'l Trade 1637, 33 C.I.T. 1637, 31 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 2252, 2009 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 132, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mazak-corporation-v-united-states-cit-2009.