NTN Bearing Corp. of America v. United States

802 F. Supp. 448, 16 Ct. Int'l Trade 719, 16 C.I.T. 719, 14 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1816, 1992 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 135
CourtUnited States Court of International Trade
DecidedAugust 19, 1992
DocketCourt 89-06-00350
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 802 F. Supp. 448 (NTN Bearing Corp. of America 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
NTN Bearing Corp. of America v. United States, 802 F. Supp. 448, 16 Ct. Int'l Trade 719, 16 C.I.T. 719, 14 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1816, 1992 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 135 (cit 1992).

Opinion

OPINION

TSOUCALAS, Judge:

On March 31, 1988, The Torrington Company (“Torrington”) filed a petition with Commerce, requesting the imposition of an-tidumping duties upon imports of all anti-friction bearings, other than tapered roller bearings, and parts thereof, from the Federal Republic of Germany, Sweden, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan, Romania, Singapore and Thailand. General Administrative Record (“GAR”) (Pub.) Doc. 1. On May 3, 1989, the final results of the investigation of dumping findings from Japan were issued. Final Determinations of Sales at Less Than Fair Value; Anti-friction Bearings (Other Than Tapered Roller Bearings) and Parts Thereof From Japan (“Final Results”), 54 Fed.Reg. 19,-101 (1989).

On February 28, 1991, this Court affirmed the ITA’s Final Results as to standing and the initiation of the cost of production investigation, Counts 1 and 3 of plaintiffs’ complaint. NTN Bearing Corp. of America v. United States, 15 CIT -, 757 F.Supp. 1425 (1991), aff'd, 972 F.2d 1355, No. 91-1294, 1992 U.S.App. LEXIS 15758 (Fed.Cir. June 30, 1992). This action, brought by NTN Bearing Corp. of America, American NTN Bearing Mfg. Corp. and NTN Toyo Bearing Co., Ltd. (collectively “NTN”), also challenges the Department of Commerce’s final results. The issue in this case is limited to Count 2 of the complaint, that being the scope of the agency’s investigation.

DISCUSSION

Pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930, in reviewing a final determination of Commerce, this Court must uphold that determination unless it is “unsupported by substantial evidence on the record, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” 19 U.S.C. § 1516a(b)(l)(B) (1988). Substantial evidence has been defined as being “more than a mere scintilla. It means such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Universal Camera Corp. v. NLRB, 340 U.S. 474, 477, 71 S.Ct. 456, 459, 95 L.Ed. 456 (1951) (quoting Consolidated Edison Co. v. NLRB, 305 U.S. 197, 229, 59 S.Ct. 206, 217, 83 L.Ed. 126 (1938)). It is “not within the Court’s domain either to weigh the adequate quality or quantity of the evidence for sufficiency or to reject a finding on grounds of a differing interpretation of the record.” The Timken Co. v. United States, 12 CIT 955, 962, 699 F.Supp. 300; 306 (1988), aff'd, 894 F.2d 385 (Fed.Cir.1990).

Timeliness

Defendants claim that plaintiffs’ motion for judgment on the agency record was untimely filed and therefore is barred. They claim that by an order, dated April 3, 1990, this Court required that “counsel for plaintiffs and plaintiff-intervenors, if any, shall file and serve their principal briefs, pursuant to Rule 56.1, concerning ... [sjcope [ijssues ... within sixty (60) days after April 11, 1990.” NTN Bearing Corp. v. United States, Court No. 89-06-00350 (Order dated April 3, 1990) (emphasis omitted). Since over two years have elapsed from the date of the order, Commerce claims that NTN is now barred from pursuing their judicial remedies before this Court.

Commerce, however, fails to consider this Court’s order of May 8, 1992 dismissing all counts not on appeal in this case with the exception of the issue at hand; that being, the scope of the investigation and the inclusion of parts not sold in the United States. NTN Bearing Corp. v. United States, Court No. 89-06-00350 (Order dated May 8, 1992). The court’s order *451 stated that “NTN Bearing Corp. v. United States, is to remain on the court’s docket limited to the issue of inclusion of parts not sold in the U.S. as alleged in Count II of NTN’s complaint.” Id. On March 2, 1992, this Court also ordered that any dispositive motions concerning the issues raised in pleadings, or any other issues, shall be filed by April 27,1992 and any responses to these motions shall be filed in accordance with the Rules of this Court. NTN Bearing Corp. v. United States, Court No. 89-06-00350 (Order dated March 2, 1992). Plaintiffs’ motion was indeed filed on April 27, 1992. Therefore, plaintiffs’ motion was timely filed.

Scope of Determination

We now turn to the principal issue in this case which is the scope of the investigation. Plaintiffs claim that the Department of Commerce failed to determine the scope of its investigation in this case and specifically whether parts and components were included therein. Consequently, they claim that Commerce erroneously included bearing parts in its determination.

NTN’s allegations are misplaced because the petition unambiguously covers antifriction bearings and parts. This court has repeatedly held that Commerce has inherent authority to define the scope of an antidumping duty investigation. See NTN Bearing Corp. of America v. United States, 14 CIT -, -, 747 F.Supp. 726, 731 (1990); see also, Diversified Prods. Corp. v. United States, 6 CIT 155, 159, 572 F.Supp. 883, 887 (1983); Royal Business Machines, Inc. v. United States, 1 CIT 80, 507 F.Supp. 1007 (1980), aff'd, 669 F.2d 692 (1982). To determine whether a particular class or kind of foreign merchandise falls within the scope of an investigation, Commerce examines the description of the merchandise contained in the petition. See Mitsubishi Elec. Corp. v. United States, 12 CIT 1025, 1027, 700 F.Supp. 538, 541 (1988), aff'd, 898 F.2d 1577 (Fed.Cir.1990); Royal Business Machines, 1 CIT at 87, 507 F.Supp. at 1014. The determination “as to whether a product is covered by an anti-dumping investigation is one which the ITA must make with ample deference to the intent of the petition.” The Torrington Co. v. United States, 16 CIT -, -, 786 F.Supp. 1021, 1026 (1992).

The petition in this case expressly provides that “the merchandise covered by this petition consists of all ground antifriction bearings and all parts thereof both finished and unfinished with the exception of tapered roller bearings.” GAR (Pub.) Doc. 1 at 13 (emphasis added). When a petition is unambiguous on its face, then the Court must look to the plain meaning of the language to determine the scope of an investigation. Thus, the scope of Commerce’s investigation in this case includes antifriction bearings and parts.

Additionally, NTN claims that there is no rational basis for Commerce’s inclusion in its determination of articles not sold in the United States. Plaintiffs cite 19 U.S.C. § 1673

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802 F. Supp. 448, 16 Ct. Int'l Trade 719, 16 C.I.T. 719, 14 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1816, 1992 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 135, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ntn-bearing-corp-of-america-v-united-states-cit-1992.