Sichuan Changhong Elec. Co., Ltd. v. United States

466 F. Supp. 2d 1323, 30 Ct. Int'l Trade 1886, 30 C.I.T. 1886, 28 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 2624, 2006 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 181
CourtUnited States Court of International Trade
DecidedNovember 15, 2006
DocketSlip Op. 06-168; Court 04-00266
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 466 F. Supp. 2d 1323 (Sichuan Changhong Elec. Co., Ltd. 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
Sichuan Changhong Elec. Co., Ltd. v. United States, 466 F. Supp. 2d 1323, 30 Ct. Int'l Trade 1886, 30 C.I.T. 1886, 28 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 2624, 2006 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 181 (cit 2006).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

EATON, Judge.

Before the court is plaintiff Sichuan Changhong Electric Co., Ltd.’s (“Changhong” or “plaintiff’) motion for judgment upon the agency record pursuant to US-CIT Rule 56.2. By its motion, Changhong contests the final affirmative material injury determination of the United States International Trade Commission (the “Commission” or “ITC”) in the antidumping duty investigation concerning certain color television receivers (“CTVs”) from the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”). 1 See Certain Color Television Receivers From China, USITC Pub. 3695, Inv. No. 731-TA-1034 (Final) (May 2004), List 2, Doc. 426 (“Final Determination”); Certain Col- or Television Receivers From China, 69 Fed.Reg. 31,405 (ITC June 3, 2004). The court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1581(c) (2000) and 19 U.S.C. § 1516a (a)(2)(B)® (2000). For the reasons that follow, the court remands the Final Determination.

BACKGROUND

On May 2, 2003, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the In *1325 dustrial Division of the Communication Workers of America (IUE-CWA) and Five Rivers Electronics Innovation, LLC filed an antidumping duty petition alleging that the United States CTV industry was being materially injured and was threatened with further material injury by reason of less than fair value (“LTFV”) imports of CTVs from the PRC and Malaysia. 2 List 1, Doc. 1. Based on the information contained in the petition, the Commission instituted an antidumping duty investigation. Certain Color Television Receivers From China and Malaysia, 68 Fed.Reg. 25,627 (ITC May 13, 2003). A conference in connection with the investigation was held on May 23, 2003, and all persons requesting the opportunity were permitted to appear. Certain Color Television Receivers From China and Malaysia, 68 Fed.Reg. 38,089 (ITC June 26, 2003) (prelim.). Interested parties filed briefs on May 29, 2003. See, e.g., List 2, Docs. 42-46. On the basis of the record developed in the investigation, the ITC preliminarily determined that there was a “reasonable indication that an industry in the United States [was] materially injured by reason of imports” of the subject merchandise. 68 Fed.Reg. at 38,-089.

Following its preliminary determination, the ITC published a schedule for the final phase of its investigation. Certain Color Television Receivers From China and Malaysia, 69 Fed.Reg. 3601 (ITC Jan. 26, 2004) (“Scheduling Notice”). Issued on January 20, 2004, the Scheduling Notice established a timetable for the remainder of the ITC’s investigation: (1) “The prehearing staff report ... will be placed in the nonpublic record on April 1, 2004”; (2) “The Commission will hold a hearing ... on April 15, 2004.... Requests to appear ... should be filed ... on or before April 7, 2004”; (3) “Each party who is an interested party shall submit a prehearing brief to the Commission____[T]he deadline for filing is April 8, 2004”; (4) “The deadline for filing posthearing briefs is April 22, 2004”; (5) “On May 7, 2004, the Commission will make available to parties all information on which they have not had an opportunity to comment”; (6) “Parties may submit final comments on this information on or before May 11, 2004, but such final comments must not contain new factual information and must otherwise comply with section 207.30 of the Commission’s rules.” Id. at 3601-02.

The Commission conducted its investigation according to the Scheduling Notice. Interested parties submitted questionnaire responses and pre-hearing briefs in March and April 2004. On April 15, 2004, the ITC held a day-long hearing where several parties presented testimony. The arguments made at the hearing prompted a reevaluation of the record information documenting the domestic industry’s financial performance. This reevaluation led the Commission to conclude that it lacked the most recent financial data relating to the domestic industry. On April 21, 2004, Commission staff sent e-mail messages to domestic producers of CTVs whose fiscal years ended on March 31, 2003, asking for updated financial data for calendar year 2003. List 2, Docs. 308, 309, 313, 314. On *1326 April 29 and May 4, 2004, the domestic producers furnished the ITC with the requested information (“updated financial information”). In the aggregate, the domestic producers’ submissions averaged under ten pages in length. List 2, Docs. 324, 325, 326, 336.

On May 6, 2004, the Commission placed on the record a memorandum, which contained a one-page digest of the updated financial information provided by the domestic CTV producers. List 2, Doc. 398. In accordance with the dates in the Scheduling Notice, the updated financial data was released to the parties, including Changhong, on May 7, 2004. Changhong and the other Chinese respondents filed their final comments on the updated financial information on May 11, 2004. List 2, Doc. 407. Pursuant to Commission regulations, the parties’ final comments were not to exceed fifteen pages. 19 C.F.R. § 207.30(b) (2004). Changhong submitted ten pages of comments, of which one and one-quarter pages discussed the updated financial information. List 2, Doc. 407 at 6-7. On May 27, 2004, on the basis of the record developed in the investigation, the ITC determined that “an industry in the United States is materially injured by reason of imports of certain color television receivers from China that are sold in the United States at less than fair value.... ” Final Determination at 3.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

When reviewing a final determination in an antidumping or countervailing duty investigation, “[t]he court shall hold unlawful any determination, finding, or conclusion found ... to be unsupported by substantial evidence on the record, or otherwise not in accordance with law....” 19 U.S.C. § 1516a(b)(l)(B)(i). “Substantial evidence is such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Huaiyin Foreign Trade Corp. (30) v. United States, 322 F.3d 1369, 1374 (Fed.Cir.2003) (quoting Consol. Edison Co. v. NLRB, 305 U.S. 197, 229, 59 S.Ct. 206, 83 L.Ed. 126 (1938)). “Substantial evidence is more than a mere scintilla.” Consol. Edison, 305 U.S. at 229, 59 S.Ct. 206. The existence of substantial evidence is determined “by considering the record as a whole, including evidence that supports as well as evidence that ‘fairly detracts from the substantiality of the evidence.’ ” Huaiyin, 322 F.3d at 1374 (quoting Atl. Sugar, Ltd. v. United States, 744 F.2d 1556, 1562 (Fed.Cir.1984)).

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Bluebook (online)
466 F. Supp. 2d 1323, 30 Ct. Int'l Trade 1886, 30 C.I.T. 1886, 28 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 2624, 2006 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 181, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sichuan-changhong-elec-co-ltd-v-united-states-cit-2006.