Sucocitrico Cutrale Ltda. v. United States

2012 CIT 71
CourtUnited States Court of International Trade
DecidedJune 1, 2012
Docket10-00261
StatusPublished

This text of 2012 CIT 71 (Sucocitrico Cutrale Ltda. 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
Sucocitrico Cutrale Ltda. v. United States, 2012 CIT 71 (cit 2012).

Opinion

Slip Op. 12-71

UNITED STATES COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x SUCOCITRICO CUTRALE LTDA. : AND CITRUS PRODUCTS INC., : Plaintiffs, : : v. : Before: Richard W. Goldberg, Senior Judge : Court No. 10-00261 : UNITED STATES, : PUBLIC VERSION Defendant, : : and : : FLORIDA CITRUS MUTUAL, : CITRUS WORLD, INC., SOUTHERN : GARDENS CITRUS : PROCESSING CORPORATION, and : A. DUDA & SONS, INC., : : Defendant-Intervenors. : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x

OPINION

[Plaintiff’s Motion for Judgment on the Agency Record under USCIT Rule 56.2 is granted in part and denied in part.]

Dated: June 1, 2012

Christopher Allen Dunn and Matthew Paul McCullough, Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP, of Washington, D.C., for plaintiffs.

Joshua Ethan Kurland, Trial Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, of Washington, D.C., for defendant. With him on the brief were Tony West, Assistant Attorney General, Jeanne E. Davidson, Director, and Franklin E. White, Assistant Director. Of counsel on the brief was George Kivork, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, of Washington, D.C.

Matthew Thomas McGrath and Stephen William Brophy, Barnes, Richardson & Colburn, of Washington D.C., for defendant-intervenors Florida Citrus Mutual and Citrus World, Inc.

Court No. 10-00261 Page 2

Goldberg, Senior Judge: Plaintiffs Sucocitrico Cutrale Ltda. (“Cutrale”) and its affiliated

importer, Citrus Products, Inc. (CPI) (collectively, “Plaintiffs” or “Cutrale”) contest the final

results of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s (“Commerce”) antidumping duty determination.

Plaintiffs challenge Commerce’s factual findings and legal conclusions in the administrative

review of the antidumping order on Certain Orange Juice from Brazil. See Certain Orange Juice

from Brazil, 75 Fed. Reg. 50,999 (Dep’t Commerce Aug. 18, 2010) (Final Results).

For the reasons discussed below, Plaintiffs’ motion is granted in part and denied in part.

The Court remands the Final Results to Commerce for reconsideration of its decision to zero

when calculating Fischer’s dumping margin. The Court affirms Commerce’s decisions with

respect to the remaining issues.

BACKGROUND

Cutrale is a Brazilian company that produces orange juice concentrate for the U.S.

market. On April 27, 2009, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1675 (a)(2)(B), Commerce initiated a review

of its antidumping duty order concerning orange juice from Brazil for the period of March 1,

2008 to February 28, 2009. See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty

Administrative Reviews and Request for Revocation, 74 Fed. Reg. 19,042 (Dep’t Commerce Apr.

27, 2009). On April 13, 2012 Commerce published the preliminary results of the review. See

Certain Orange Juice from Brazil, 75 Fed. Reg. 18,794 (Dep’t Commerce Apr. 13, 2010)

(Preliminary Results).

On May 14, 2010, Cutrale filed an administrative case brief challenging, among other

things, Commerce’s decision to zero despite adverse World Trade Organization (WTO) rulings.

However, at that time Cutrale did not specifically argue that Commerce’s policy of zeroing in

Court No. 10-00261 Page 3

administrative reviews, but not in investigations, was based on an impermissibly inconsistent

statutory interpretation. Commerce rejected all of Cutrale’s protests and issued the Final Results

on August 18, 2010. See Final Results, 75 Fed. Reg. 50,999.

JURISDICTION AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to section 201 of the Customs Court Act of 1980, 28

U.S.C. § 1581(c) (2006).

This Court must “uphold Commerce’s determination unless it is ‘unsupported by

substantial evidence on the record, or otherwise not in accordance with law.’” Micron Tech., Inc.

v. United States, 117 F.3d 1386, 1393 (Fed. Cir. 1997) (quoting 19 U.S.C. § 1516a(b)(1)(B)(i)

(1994)). When reviewing agency determinations, findings, or conclusions for substantial

evidence, this Court determines whether the agency action is reasonable in light of the entire

record. See Nippon Steel Corp. v. United States, 458 F.3d 1345, 1350–51 (Fed. Cir. 2006). This

Court affords Commerce’s factual finding a tremendous amount of deference. See INS v. Elias-

Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 483–84 (1992) (stating that in fact-intensive situations, agency

conclusions should be reversed only if the record contains evidence “so compelling that no

reasonable factfinder” could reach the same conclusion).

DISCUSSION

Under the current antidumping law, Commerce imposes antidumping duties “on imported

merchandise that is being sold, or is likely to be sold, in the United States at less than fair value

to the detriment of a domestic industry.” Micron Tech., Inc. v. United States, 243 F.3d 1301,

1303 (Fed. Cir. 2001) (citing 19 U.S.C. § 1673). The “dumping margin,” which is the amount of

the duty to be imposed, “is the amount by which the price charged for the subject merchandise in

Court No. 10-00261 Page 4

the home market (the ‘normal value’) exceeds the price charged in the United States (the ‘U.S.

price’).” Id. (citing 19 U.S.C. §§ 1673, 1677(25)(A)). Where, as here, the foreign producer sells

directly to an affiliated purchaser in the United States, Commerce must calculate a constructed

export price (CEP) to use as the U.S. price for purposes of comparison. 19 U.S.C. § 1677a(b).

Thus, Commerce treated all of Cutrale’s U.S. sales as constructed export price (CEP) sales

because Cutrale sells directly to its U.S. affiliate CPI. 19 U.S.C. §1677a(b).

Cutrale produces only for export to the United States and does not sell goods in its home

market. Thus, there is no “normal value” of goods in the home market or in any third country for

Commerce to compare with the CEP. In this situation, Commerce calculates a “constructed

value” of goods in the home market to compare with the CEP. 19 U.S.C. § 1677b(a)(4).

Commerce must “consider all available evidence on the proper allocation of costs.” Id. §

1677b(f)(1)(A). The statute does not provide specific guidance on the calculation of financial

expenses. Therefore, Commerce has broad discretion to devise a method for calculating “general

expenses.” Am. Silicon Techs. v. United States, 334 F.3d 1033, 1037 (Fed. Cir. 2003).

Cutrale raises seven issues on appeal: (1) whether Commerce’s decision to zero in this

administrative review is unreasonable and not in accordance with law; (2) whether Commerce’s

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