Thai I-Mei Frozen Foods Co., Ltd. v. United States

616 F.3d 1300, 32 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1289, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 16677, 2010 WL 3178126
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedAugust 12, 2010
Docket2009-1516
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 616 F.3d 1300 (Thai I-Mei Frozen Foods Co., Ltd. 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
Thai I-Mei Frozen Foods Co., Ltd. v. United States, 616 F.3d 1300, 32 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1289, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 16677, 2010 WL 3178126 (Fed. Cir. 2010).

Opinion

LOURIE, Circuit Judge.

The government appeals from the decision of the United States Court of International Trade (“the Trade Court”) holding unreasonable the Department of Commerce’s (“Commerce’s”) interpretation of its governing statute and concluding that the constructed value profit rate was not determined according to a reasonable method. See Thai I-Mei Frozen Foods Co., Ltd. v. United States, 572 F.Supp.2d 1353 (Ct. Int’l Trade 2008) (“Thai I-Mei II”). Because Commerce’s first remand determination was in accordance with law, we reverse the Trade Court’s decision.

Background

Under the antidumping statute, Commerce imposes duties on imported merchandise that “is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value” and harms domestic industry. 19 U.S.C. § 1673. Sales at less than fair value are those sales for which the “normal value” (the price a producer charges in its home market) exceeds the “export price” (the price of the product in the United States). 19 U.S.C. § 1677(35)(B). If sales of comparable merchandise are not available for the agency to determine normal value, the agency may use a constructed value. 19 U.S.C. § 1677b(e). The statute specifies that constructed value is the sum of (1) the cost of materials and processing used to produce the merchandise in the ordinary course of business, (2) the actual selling, general, and administrative expenses and actual profits realized in production of a foreign like product in the ordinary course of trade, and (3) container costs. Id. The statute further specifies three alternatives for situations where actual data are not available for the selling, general, and administrative expenses and profit amounts. First, Commerce may use actual amounts incurred by the specific *1302 exporter or producer for merchandise in the same general category as the subject merchandise (in contrast to use of data for the foreign like product). 19 U.S.C. § 1677b(e)(2)(B)(i). The second alternative is using the weighted average of actual amounts incurred by other exporters or producers subject to investigation for the foreign like product. 19 U.S.C. § 1677b(e)(2)(B)(ii). The third alternative allows determination of the amounts incurred and realized “based on any other reasonable method.... ” 19 U.S.C. § 1677b(e)(2)(B)(iii).

In February 2005, Commerce made a determination that shrimp from Thailand were being dumped (i.e., sold at less than fair value) in the United States at a margin of 5.29%. Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from Thailand, 70 Fed.Reg. 5,145 (Feb. 1, 2005) (notice of amended final determination of sales at less than fair value and antidumping duty order), amending ministerial errors in Certain Frozen and Canned Warmwater Shrimp from Thailand, 69 Fed.Reg. 76,918 (Dec. 23, 2004) (notice of final determination of sales at less than fair value). In making its determination, Commerce used a constructed value after finding that there was no viable home market for the product.

To determine constructed value for Thai I-Mei, Commerce used profit data from the two other mandatory respondents’ third country sales (in Canada), pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1677b(e)(2)(B)(iii), excluding data for sales it determined were not made in the ordinary course of trade. Sales outside the ordinary course of trade include below-cost sales and certain transactions between affiliated parties. Thai IMei Frozen Foods Co., Ltd v. United States, 477 F.Supp.2d 1332, 1355 (Ct. Int’l Trade 2007) (“Thai I-Mei I”), (citing 19 U.S.C. § 1677(15)). The excluded sales accounted for 20% of the total sales Commerce examined in making its determination; the resulting profit margin calculated was 9.67%. In using these profit data, Commerce rejected Thai I-Mei’s submission of data from other Thai companies’ sales of seafood in third country markets, and its suggested profit of either 0% or 0.87%. 1

Thai I-Mei challenged Commerce’s determination in the Court of International Trade. The Trade Court found Commerce’s decision to use other respondents’ third country sales to determine profit for its constructed value calculation instead of the data set proffered by Thai I-Mei to be supported by substantial evidence, under 19 U.S.C. § 1677b(e)(2)(B)(iii). Thai IMei I, 477 F.Supp.2d at 1341-48. However, the Trade Court found that Commerce had not adequately explained its exclusion of sales outside the ordinary course of trade in making its profit determination for Thai I-Mei. Id. at 1357. The Court of International Trade remanded with instructions to “reconsider this aspect of the Amended Final Determination.” Id. at 1358.

In its determination following the first remand, Commerce continued to exclude sales outside the course of ordinary trade from the third country sales data of the other respondents in determining profit data for Thai I-Mai. Commerce noted that the “any other reasonable method” language of the statute did not dictate the inclusion or exclusion of sales outside the *1303 ordinary course of trade, and that the preamble to Commerce’s regulations requires a finding “depending on the circumstances and availability of data.” Anti-dumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, 62 Fed.Reg. 27,296, 27,359 (Dep’t of Commerce May 19, 1997) (“Preamble”). Commerce also noted that the “preferred” method, i.e., using the methodology of 19 U.S.C. § 1677b(e)(2)(A), requires exclusion of sales outside the ordinary course of trade, and stated that it had “looked to a methodology that mimics the preferred method.” In a footnote, Commerce explained that like subparagraph (B)(iii), subparagraph (B)(i) does not specifically exclude sales outside the ordinary course of trade because that section references sales of merchandise that is merely in the same general category as the subject merchandise rather than sales of the foreign like product. Commerce explained that it would not have sale-specific data for sales of merchandise that were only in the same general category because that merchandise will generally not be subject to the investigation or review.

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616 F.3d 1300, 32 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1289, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 16677, 2010 WL 3178126, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thai-i-mei-frozen-foods-co-ltd-v-united-states-cafc-2010.