NTN Bearing Corp. of America v. United States

903 F. Supp. 62, 19 C.I.T. 1165, 1995 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 205
United States Court of International Trade·Decided September 6, 1995·No. Court No. 92-06-00423; Slip Op. 95-156·Published·Cited by 12 cases

Opinion

OPINION

TSOUCALAS, Judge:

This case arises from the final administrative review determination of the International Trade Administration, United States Department of Commerce (“Commerce”), regarding ball bearings, cylindrical roller bearings and spherical plain bearings (collectively “antifriction bearings” or “AFBs”) and parts thereof from Japan. See Antifriction Bearings (Other Than Tapered Roller Bearings) and Parts Thereof From France; et al.; Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews (Final Results), 57 Fed.Reg. 28,360 (1992). Plaintiffs NTN Bearing Corporation of America, American NTN Bearing Manufacturing Corporation and NTN Corporation (collectively “NTN”) are manufacturers, exporters and/or importers of AFBs subject to the contested determination.

This action is before the Court on NTN’s motion for judgment upon the agency record pursuant to Rule 56.2 of the Rules of this Court.

Background

On May 15, 1989, Commerce published antidumping duty orders on antifriction bearings and parts thereof from Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Romania, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand and the United Kingdom. See Antidumping Duty Orders: Ball Bearings, Cylindrical Roller Bearings, and Spherical Plain Bearings, and Parts Thereof From Japan, 54 Fed.Reg. 20,904 (1989).1

On June 28, July 19 and August 14, 1991, Commerce initiated administrative reviews of those orders with respect to sixty-three manufacturers and exporters, including NTN, for the period May 1, 1990 through April 30, 1991. See Antifriction Bearings (Other Than Tapered Roller Bearings) and Parts Thereof From the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Romania, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, and the United Kingdom; Initiation of Antidumping Administrative Reviews, 56 Fed.Reg. 29,618 (1991); Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews, 56 Fed.Reg. 33,251 (1991); Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews, 56 Fed.Reg. 40,305 (1991).

On March 31, 1992, Commerce issued its preliminary determinations in these second administrative reviews. See Antifriction Bearings (Other Than Tapered Roller Bearings) and Parts Thereof From Japan; Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews and Partial Termination of Administrative Reviews, 57 Fed. Reg. 10,868 (1992).2

[65]*65On June 24, 1992, Commerce published one joint final determination for the nine administrative reviews. See Final Results, 57 Fed.Reg. at 28,360.

Against this background, NTN now moves pursuant to Rule 56.2 of the Rules of the Court for judgment upon the agency record with respect to certain aspects of the Final Results. In particular, NTN objects to the following actions by Commerce with respect to Japan: (1) deduction of direct selling expenses incurred on U.S. sales from the exporter’s sales price instead of adding such expenses to the foreign market value (“FMV”); (2) recalculation of NTN’s reported credit expense to eliminate the effect of compensating deposits; (3) inclusion of NTN’s sample sales and other sales allegedly made outside the ordinary course of trade in calculating FMV; and (4) matching of U.S. sales with home market sales at different levels of trade and failing to make a level of trade adjustment reflecting the full difference in price between trade levels. NTN’s Motion for Judgment on the Agency Record and Memorandum in Support Thereof (“NTN’s Brief”) at 1-26.3

NTN asserts that these alleged errors render the Final Results unsupported by substantial evidence and contrary to law. NTN’s Brief at 2-4.

On August 5, 1992, the Court granted NTN’s motion for a preliminary injunction enjoining the liquidation of NTN’s unliqui-dated entries of subject AFBs from Japan during the pendency of this litigation in the United States Court of International Trade.

Defendant-intervenors Federal-Mogul Corporation (“Federal-Mogul”), a manufacturer in the United States of AFBs, and The Torrington Company (“Torrington”), the petitioner in the original investigation, oppose NTN’s challenge. On September 24, 1992, and October 23, 1992, respectively, the Court granted Federal-Mogul’s and Torrington’s motions to intervene as defendants in this civil action.

Discussion

The Court’s jurisdiction in this action is derived from 19 U.S.C. § 1516a(a)(2) (1988) and 28 U.S.C. § 1581(c) (1988).

The Court must uphold Commerce’s final 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 is “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.” Timken Co. v. United States, 12 CIT 955, 962, 699 F.Supp. 300, 306 (1988), aff'd, 894 F.2d 385 (Fed.Cir.1990).

1. NTN’s Direct Selling Expenses

In accordance with its long-standing administrative practice, Commerce deducted NTN’s direct selling expenses incurred on U.S. sales of antifriction bearings from the exporter’s sales price (“ESP”) pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1677a(e)(2) (1988).4

[66]*66NTN argues that Commerce should have added those expenses to the foreign market value as a “circumstance-of-sale” adjustment pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1677b(a)(4)(B) (1988). NTN’s Brief at 8-11. According to NTN, judicial precedent supports its position. Id. at 8-9 (citing to NTN Bearing Corp. of Am. v. United States, 17 CIT 272, 1993 WL 129799 (April 21, 1993), and other cases). NTN asserts that, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1677b(a)(4), Commerce must treat direct selling expenses, whether attributable to home market or United States sales, as a circumstance of sale adjustment. Id. at 9-11.

Commerce concedes that the Court has previously held that 19 U.S.C. § 1677a

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