Primesource Building Products, Inc. v. United States

111 F.4th 1320
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedAugust 7, 2024
Docket22-2128
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 111 F.4th 1320 (Primesource Building Products, Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Primesource Building Products, Inc. v. United States, 111 F.4th 1320 (Fed. Cir. 2024).

Opinion

Case: 22-2128 Document: 90 Page: 1 Filed: 08/07/2024

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ______________________

PRIMESOURCE BUILDING PRODUCTS, INC., CHENG CH INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD., CHINA STAPLE ENTERPRISE CORP., DE FASTENERS INC., HOYI PLUS CO., LTD., LIANG CHYUAN INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD., TRIM INTERNATIONAL INC., UJL INDUSTRIES CO., LTD., YU CHI HARDWARE CO., LTD., ZON MON CO., LTD., Plaintiffs-Appellants

v.

UNITED STATES, MID CONTINENT STEEL & WIRE, INC., Defendants-Appellees ______________________

2022-2128, 2022-2129 ______________________

Appeals from the United States Court of International Trade in Nos. 1:20-cv-03911-MAB, 1:20-cv-03934-MAB, Chief Judge Mark A. Barnett. ______________________

Decided: August 7, 2024 ______________________

BRYAN PATRICK CENKO, Mowry & Grimson, PLLC, Washington, DC, argued for plaintiff-appellant PrimeSource Building Products, Inc. Also represented by JILL CRAMER, JEFFREY S. GRIMSON, YIXIN LI, KRISTIN HEIM MOWRY, SARAH WYSS. Case: 22-2128 Document: 90 Page: 2 Filed: 08/07/2024

KELLY ALICE SLATER, Appleton Luff Pte. Ltd., Washington, DC, argued for plaintiffs-appellants Cheng Ch International Co., Ltd., China Staple Enterprise Corp., De Fasteners Inc., Hoyi Plus Co., Ltd., Liang Chyuan Industrial Co., Ltd., Trim International Inc., UJL Industries Co., Ltd., Yu Chi Hardware Co., Ltd., Zon Mon Co., Ltd.

SOSUN BAE, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC, argued for defendant-appellee United States. Also represented by BRIAN M. BOYNTON, PATRICIA M. MCCARTHY; VANIA WANG, Office of the Chief Counsel for Trade Enforcement and Compliance, United States Department of Commerce, Washington, DC.

ADAM H. GORDON, The Bristol Group PLLC, Washington, DC, argued for defendant-appellee Mid Continent Steel & Wire, Inc. Also represented by BENJAMIN JACOB BAY, JENNIFER MICHELE SMITH-VELUZ. ______________________

Before LOURIE, DYK, and STOLL, Circuit Judges. Opinion for the court filed by Circuit Judge LOURIE. Opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part filed by Circuit Judge DYK. LOURIE, Circuit Judge. PrimeSource Building Products, Inc. (“PrimeSource”) and Cheng Ch International Co., Ltd., et al. 1 (“Cheng Ch”

1 China Staple Enterprise Corporation, De Fasteners Inc., Hoyi Plus Co., Ltd., Liang Chyuan Industrial Co., Ltd. (“Liang Chyuan”), Trim International Case: 22-2128 Document: 90 Page: 3 Filed: 08/07/2024

PRIMESOURCE BUILDING PRODUCTS, INC. v. US 3

or the “non-selected respondents”) separately appeal from the final judgment of the United States Court of International Trade (the “Trade Court”) on the fourth administrative review of an antidumping duty order on certain steel nails from Taiwan. PrimeSource Bldg. Prod., Inc. v. United States, 581 F. Supp. 3d 1331 (Ct. Int’l Trade 2022) (“Decision”). The Trade Court sustained the United States Department of Commerce’s (“Commerce”) use of the expected method to calculate an all-others rate for the non- selected respondents equal to the adverse facts available (“AFA”) rate that was applied to all the mandatory respondents in Commerce’s review. Id. PrimeSource is an importer of steel nails from Taiwan and appeals Commerce’s calculation and application of the all-others rate solely with respect to Liang Chyuan, one of the non-selected respondents. Cheng Ch appeals the rate with respect to the non-selected respondents, generally. Because Commerce’s calculation and application of the all- others rate is supported by substantial evidence and otherwise in accordance with law, we affirm. BACKGROUND I We begin with a brief overview of the statutory framework for determining antidumping duty rates. Commerce is authorized by statute to impose antidumping duties on goods sold in the United States below fair market value. See 19 U.S.C. § 1673. Those duties are equal to the amount by which the normal value of the merchandise exceeds the export price, i.e., the dumping margin. Id. at §§ 1673e(a)(1), 1677(35); see

Inc., UJL Industries Co., Ltd., Yu Chi Hardware Co., Ltd., and Zon Mon Co., Ltd. Case: 22-2128 Document: 90 Page: 4 Filed: 08/07/2024

Albemarle Corp. & Subsidiaries v. United States, 821 F.3d 1345, 1348 (Fed. Cir. 2016). Commerce is generally charged with calculating individual dumping margins for each exporter of the subject merchandise during an administrative review of a countervailing duty order. 19 U.S.C. §§ 1677f–1(c)(1), 1675(a); Albemarle, 821 F.3d at 1348. However, when it is “not practicable” to calculate a rate for each exporter because of the large number, Commerce may limit its examination to “a reasonable number” of exporters constituting a statistically representative sample of all known exporters or accounting for the largest volume of the subject merchandise from the exporting country. 19 U.S.C. § 1677f–1(c)(2). The exporters selected for individual examination are referred to as mandatory respondents. See Yangzhou Bestpak Gifts & Crafts Co. v. United States, 716 F.3d 1370, 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2013) (“Bestpak”). Commerce calculates dumping margins for the mandatory respondents based on data provided by the respondents through their responses to an antidumping questionnaire. Id. at 1372. However, if a respondent fails to act to the best of its ability to respond to the questionnaire, Commerce may assign it a dumping margin based on an adverse inference from the facts available in the petition or elsewhere, i.e., based on AFA. 19 U.S.C. § 1677e(b). When Commerce limits the number of individually examined exporters under § 1677f–1(c)(2), it calculates an “all-others” rate for the non-selected respondents by weight-averaging the dumping margins assigned to the mandatory respondents, excluding any margins that are zero, de minimis, or determined entirely based on AFA. 19 U.S.C. § 1673d(c)(1)(B), (c)(5)(A). The statute provides an exception when the dumping margins for all mandatory respondents are zero, de minimis, or determined entirely based on AFA; it instructs Commerce to “use any reasonable method” to calculate the all-others rate, including averaging the dumping margins for the Case: 22-2128 Document: 90 Page: 5 Filed: 08/07/2024

PRIMESOURCE BUILDING PRODUCTS, INC. v. US 5

mandatory respondents. 19 U.S.C. § 1673d(c)(5)(B). The method for calculating the all-others rate when that exception applies is the primary issue on appeal. Additional guidance on that provision is provided in the Statement of Administrative Action (“SAA”), which is legislative history that Congress has mandated “as an authoritative expression concerning the interpretation and application of the Tariff Act.” Bestpak, 716 F.3d at 1373; 19 U.S.C. § 3512(d). For the § 1673d(c)(5)(B) exception, the SAA provides that: In such situations, Commerce may use any reasonable method to calculate the all others rate.

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Bluebook (online)
111 F.4th 1320, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/primesource-building-products-inc-v-united-states-cafc-2024.