PPG Industries Inc. v. United States

15 Ct. Int'l Trade 311, 768 F. Supp. 354, 15 C.I.T. 311, 13 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1592, 1991 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 209
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in PPG Industries Inc. v. United States. Read the opinion of the Court — 746 F. Supp. 119
United States Court of International Trade·Decided July 3, 1991·No. Court No. 86-12-01546·Published

Opinion

Memorandum Opinion and Order

Carman, Acting Chief Judge:

Plaintiff moves pursuant to Rules 1 and 7(f) of this Court to reject the remand determination of the United States International Trade Administration, United States Department of Commerce (“ITA” or “Commerce”) in Results of Reconsideration of Issues Pursuant to Court Remand of PPG Industries, Inc. v. United States, Court No. 86-12-01546 (Oct. 25, 1990) (“Remand Results”), filed pursuant to this Court’s order of August 9,1990. The remand order directed Commerce to recalculate certain countervailable benefits which Commerce determined were bestowed on account of FOMEX1 export loans in its Fabricated Automotive Glass from Mexico; Final Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review (“Final Results”), 51 Fed. Reg. 44,652 (Dec. 11, 1986). Plaintiff seeks a new remand. Defendant opposes the motion and cross-moves for judgment sustaining the determination of Commerce in the Final Results, as supplemented by the results of the prior remands. Defendant-intervenors join defendant’s opposition to the motion of plaintiff and seek its dismissal.

Background

In PPG Industries, Inc. v. United States, 14 CIT 522, 746 F. Supp. 119 (1990), this case was remanded to the ITA with instructions to (1) determine an effective benchmárk interest rate for comparison with the 1984 FOMEX export loans and recalculate the subsidy amount, if necessary; [312]*312(2) reexamine the 1985 benchmark interest rate to ascertain which finance charges, if any, were included in the quarterly weighted-average interest rates Commerce relied upon in calculating its 1985 benchmark rate; and (3) determine whether or not the Federal Reserve effective rates that Commerce used in constructing the 1985 benchmark rate accounted for compensating balances and recalculate the subsidy amount, if necessary. The final determination of Commerce was affirmed by this Court in all other respects.

Discussion

Standard of Review

Commerce’s determination must be upheld unless it is “unsupported by substantial evidence on the record, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” 19 U.S.C. § 1516a(b)(1)(B) (1988). Substantial evidence “means such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. United States, 3 Fed. Cir. (T) 44, 51, 750 F.2d 927, 933 (1984) (quoting Consolidated Edison Co. v. NLRB, 305 U.S. 197, 229 (1938)). The “substantial evidence” standard used by the Court to determine whether the agency’s findings are supported by law contemplates “essentially a limited review of the agency determination, insuring that the agency conclusions are reasonably drawn from some evidence, more than a mere scintilla, in light of the record as a whole. ” Alhambra Foundry v. United States, 9 CIT 632, 635, 626 F. Supp. 402, 407 (1985).

As a general rule this Court will accord substantial deference to Commerce’s implementation of its statutory mandate. Zenith Radio Corp. v. United States, 437 U.S. 443, 450-51 (1978). An agency’s interpretation of a statute which it is authorized to administer is “to be sustained unless unreasonable and plainly inconsistent with the statute, and [is] to be held valid unless weighty reasons require otherwise.” ICC Indus. v. United States, 5 Fed. Cir. (T) 78, 84, 812 F.2d 694, 699 (1987) (quoting Melamine Chemicals, Inc. v. United States, 2 Fed. Cir. (T) 57, 60-61, 732 F.2d 924, 928 (1984). To satisfy this standard it is not necessary for a court to find that the “[agency’s] construction is the only reasonable one, or even that it is the result [the Court] would have reached had the question arisen in the first instance injudicial proceedings. ” Unemployment Compensation Comm’n v. Aragon, 329 U.S. 143, 153 (1946); see Consumer Prod. Div., SCM Corp. v. Silver Reed America, Inc., 3 Fed. Cir. (T) 83, 90, 753 F.2d 1033, 1039 (1985).

1. Commerce’s recalculation of the 1984 FOMEX export loan benefits utilizing effective interest rates:

Commerce agreed with plaintiffs motion for a remand to recalculate the benefits of 1984 FOMEX preferential loans and requested a remand to reexamine the benefit conferred by 1984 FOMEX dollar-denominated export loans. Remand Results at 2. In accordance with the remand instructions Commerce recalculated the FOMEX export loan [313]*313benefit for 1984.2 This Court finds that Commerce properly recalculated the 1984 FOMEX export loan benefits utilizing the effective interest rates, and that its findings are supported by substantial evidence on the record and are in accordance with law.

2. Commerce’s determination that the 1985 Federal Reserve interest rates did not include compensating balances and additional fees and costs:

On remand, Commerce noted that the commercial lending rates published in the Federal Reserve Bulletin, which Commerce used in deriving its 1985 benchmark, “represent[ed] effective interest rates and were obtained from a survey of 340 commercial banks of all sizes.” Remand Results at 4. It concluded, based on this survey, that “these effective rates do not include non-rate costs to the borrower, additional fees or finance charges.” Id. With respect to compensating balances, Commerce determined that:

compensating balances are not included in the 1985 Federal Reserve effective rate (citation omitted). Plaintiff has not provided any information to indicate that there are compensating balances for dollar-denominated FOMEX loans in Mexico.
Based on the information we have reexamined, we do not believe that a change in our 1985 effective benchmark for FOMEX dollar-denominated export loans is required.

Id. With respect to additional charges and fees, the ITA indicated that the information provided by the Division of Monetary Affairs of the Federal Reserve System demonstrated that the quarterly weighted-average Federal Reserve rates used by the ITA to calculate the 1985 effective benchmark did not include the effect of additional charges or fees. Id. at 6.

This Court has previously sustained the practice of Commerce of calculating benchmark rates from information obtained from the United States Federal Reserve Board in Cementos Anahuac del Golfo, S.A. v. United States, 12 CIT 525, 555, 689 F. Supp. 1191, 1214 (1988), aff’d, 879 F.2d 847 (1989), cert. denied, 110 S. Ct 1318 (1990). Although plaintiff does not challenge ITA’s use of Federal Reserve Bulletin effective in[314]

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PPG Industries Inc. v. United States, 15 Ct. Int'l Trade 311, 768 F. Supp. 354, 15 C.I.T. 311, 13 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1592, 1991 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 209 (cit 1991).

15 Ct. Int'l Trade 311 (PPG Industries Inc. v. United States) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Zenith Radio Corp. v. United States
437 U.S. 443 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Melamine Chemicals, Inc. v. The United States
732 F.2d 924 (Federal Circuit, 1984)
Alhambra Foundry v. United States
626 F. Supp. 402 (Court of International Trade, 1985)
PPG Industries, Inc. v. United States
746 F. Supp. 119 (Court of International Trade, 1990)
Cementos Anahuac Del Golfo, S.A. v. United States
689 F. Supp. 1191 (Court of International Trade, 1988)