Primary Steel, Inc. v. United States

17 Ct. Int'l Trade 1080, 834 F. Supp. 1374, 17 C.I.T. 1080, 15 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 2297, 1993 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 196
CourtUnited States Court of International Trade
DecidedOctober 6, 1993
DocketConsolidated Court No. 91-12-00879
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 17 Ct. Int'l Trade 1080 (Primary Steel, Inc. 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
Primary Steel, Inc. v. United States, 17 Ct. Int'l Trade 1080, 834 F. Supp. 1374, 17 C.I.T. 1080, 15 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 2297, 1993 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 196 (cit 1993).

Opinion

Opinion

Carman, Judge:

Plaintiffs bring this consolidated action pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1516a(2)(B)(iii) (1988) to contest the final determination by the International Trade Administration (ITA) in the 1987-1988 administrative review of the antidumping duty order issued in Circular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes from Thailand, 51 Fed. Reg. 8341 [1081]*1081(Dep’t Comm. 1986) (antidumping duty order) (Antidumping Order). See Certain Circular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes from Thailand, 56 Fed. Reg. 58,355 (Dep’t Comm. 1991) (final admin, rev.) (Final Review). Plaintiffs seek judgment pursuant to USCIT R. 56.1. This Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1581(c) (1988) and, for the reasons which follow, enters judgment for defendant.

I. Background

The administrative review at issue in this case arises from the ITA’s final determination in Circular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes from Thailand, 51 Fed. Reg. 3384 (Dep’t Comm. 1986) (final determ.) (Final Determination). In the Final Determination, the ITA found various importers were selling or were likely to sell circular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes (standard pipe) from Thailand in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). 51 Fed. Reg. at 3384. With respect to the importers covered by the investigation, the ITA determined the following weighted-average dumping margins: 15.69 percent for Saha Thai Steel Pipe Co., Ltd. (Saha Thai); 15.60 percent for Thai Steel Pipe Industry Company (Thai Steel); and, 15.67 percent for all others. Id. at 3387. The International Trade Commission later found the imports at issue were materially injuring a United States industry. Antidumping Order, 51 Fed. Reg. at 8341. Based on the LTFV and injury findings, the ITA issued an antidumping duty order incorporating the weighted-average antidumping duty margins set forth in the Final Determination. Id. at 8341-42.

The ITA subsequently undertook an administrative review of imports of standard pipe into the United States between March 1, 1987 and February 29, 1988. Certain Circular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes From Thailand, 55 Fed. Reg. 42,596 (Dep’t Comm. 1990) (prelim, admin. review) (Preliminary Review). This review covered four manufacturers of Thai standard pipe: (1) Saha Thai; (2) Siam Steel Pipe Import-Export Co., Ltd. (Siam Steel); (3) Thai Hong Steel Pipe Co., Ltd. (Thai Hong); and, (4) Thai Union Steel Co., Ltd. (Thai Union). Id. In the course of its review, the ITA sent the manufacturers questionnaires seeking information pertaining to their United States sales, shipping expenses, and customers in the Thai home market and, when relevant, in third country markets. The ITA also sent cost of production (COP) questionnaires to Saha Thai, Thai Hong, and Thai Union.

The ITA later conducted verification of the questionnaire responses supplied by Saha Thai, Thai Hong, and Thai Union. The ITA did not attempt to verify Siam Steel’s response because “significant portions of its response were not verifiable.” Id. In addition, the ITA “found that significant portions of Thai Hong’s response did not verify or were unverifiable.” Id. Because of the deficiencies in Siam Steel’s and Thai Hong’s responses, the ITA used the best information available (BIA) pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1677e(c) (1988) in calculating the companies’ dumping margins in the Preliminary Review. Id. The margins found in [1082]*1082the Preliminary Review were .48 percent for Saha Thai and 75.06 percent for Siam Steel, Thai Hong, and Thai Union. Id. at 42,597.

On November 19, 1991, the ITA published the final results of its administrative review. See Final Review, 56 Fed. Reg. at 58,355. The margins found in the Final Review differed substantially from those determined in the Preliminary Review. The margins calculated in the Final Review were .49 percent for Saha Thai and 38.51 percent for Siam Steel, Thai Hong, Thai Union, and all other manufacturers. Id. at 58,361. The changed margins arose from the ITA’s analysis of comments from interested parties pertaining to the Preliminary Review. Id. at 58,355. The instant action only challenges the ITA’s findings in the Final Review concerning Thai Union.

Several aspects of the Final Review are pertinent to the instant case. The first is the ITA’s assessment of Thai Union’s COP for galvanized and coupled pipe. See id. at 58,357. The ITA found Thai Union’s COP calculations “seriously understated] the quantity of zinc actually [used] on [galvanized and coupled pipe] and [did] not include the cost of couplings.” Id. The ITA also determined petitioners’ COP calculation for galvanized and coupled pipe, which incorporated information that Thai Union had submitted at various times, was “the best information currently available on the record. ” Id. As a result, the ITA used petitioners’ calculation instead of that offered by Thai Union in making its findings. Id. The calculation adopted by the ITA assessed “(1) the per-ton cost of zinc coating based upon the respective quantities of zinc purchased and pipe produced in 1987, and (2) the cost of couplings based on average coupling cost and the quantity of couplings consumed per ton of [galvanized] pipe produced.” Id.

The second pertinent aspect of the Final Review is the ITA’s analysis of the credit expenses Thai Union incurred in its United States sales. The ITA concluded the credit expense information Thai Union submitted was deficient as it merely approximated Thai Union’s company-specific rate by using “the ratio of Thai Union’s interest payments in 1987 over the company’s total debt outstanding in that year.” Id. at 58,358. The ITA found Thai Union’s methodology to be “inappropriate for calculating an interest rate on short-term debt because it ignores the fact that total debt includes both long-term and short-term debt, and does not take into account such factors as grace periods or balloon payments which may also exist.” Id. As a result, the ITA used the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) country-wide lending rate — the maximum rate charged by commercial banks for short-term export-related loans — as BIA for determining Thai Union’s short-term credit expenses. Id.

The other aspects of the Final Review relevant to the instant case are the ITA’s treatment of duty drawback payments allegedly received by Thai Union and of the company’s below-cost, home market sales. See id., 58,360-61. With respect to the duty drawback payments, the ITA was unable to verify the information submitted by Thai Union and therefore declined to make an upward adjustment in the company’s [1083]*1083United States price. Id. at 58,358. Similarly, the ITA chose to disregard Thai Union’s below-cost, home market sales in assessing foreign market value because such sales caused the company to incur a large revenue shortfall and prevented the company from recovering all costs within a reasonable period of time in the normal course of trade. Id. at 58,361 (citing Timken Co.

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17 Ct. Int'l Trade 1080, 834 F. Supp. 1374, 17 C.I.T. 1080, 15 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 2297, 1993 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 196, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/primary-steel-inc-v-united-states-cit-1993.