Tianjin Tiancheng Pharmaceutical Co. v. United States

366 F. Supp. 2d 1246, 29 Ct. Int'l Trade 256, 29 C.I.T. 256, 27 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1462, 2005 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 31
CourtUnited States Court of International Trade
DecidedMarch 9, 2005
DocketSLIP OP. 05-29; Court 03-00654
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 366 F. Supp. 2d 1246 (Tianjin Tiancheng Pharmaceutical Co. 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
Tianjin Tiancheng Pharmaceutical Co. v. United States, 366 F. Supp. 2d 1246, 29 Ct. Int'l Trade 256, 29 C.I.T. 256, 27 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1462, 2005 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 31 (cit 2005).

Opinion

OPINION

POGUE, Judge.

This action requires the Court to review certain determinations in the “new shipper” review of Plaintiffs imports of glycine from the People’s Republic of China. Defendant, the U.S. Department of Commerce (“Commerce”), rescinded its review of Plaintiffs imports after concluding that the sale upon which the review was based was not bona fide. Because the Court finds that Defendant’s conclusions are supported by substantial record evidence, the Court denies Plaintiffs motion and enters judgment for Defendant.

BACKGROUND

Commerce published an antidumping duty order on glycine from the People’s Republic of China in 1995. Glycine from the People’s Republic of China, 60 Fed. Reg. 16,116 (Dep’t Commerce Mar 29, 1995) (antidumping duty order). An exporter may request a “new shipper review” of its products that are subject to an antidumping duty order if it began shipment of the products after the order was imposed. See 19 U.S.C. § 1675(a)(2)(B) (2000). This statute enables the new shipper to demonstrate that it should be accorded a dumping rate specific to itself, and not the “all-others” rate, which is usually higher than a firm-specific rate would be.

In this case, Commerce received a request for a new shipper review from Plaintiff on March 29, 2002. Plaintiff refiled its request on May 1, 2002, after having been informed by Commerce that its original request did not comply with the applicable statutes and regulations. See Pl.’s Conf. Mem. Supp. R. 56.2 Mot. J. Agency R. at 2-3 (“Pl.’s Conf. Br.”); Final Results of Determination Pursuant to Court Remand (“Remand Determ.”), CRR Doc. No. 13 at 2 (Apr. 23, 2004). 1

In response to a Commerce questionnaire issued pursuant to the new shipper review, Plaintiff indicated that on January 25, 2002, it sold 1000 kilograms of glycine to a U.S. importer of pharmaceuticals, denoted here for confidentiality purposes as Company X. The goods were sold at a price of [ ] 2 per kilogram, and the *1248 accompanying customs documentation did not indicate that the goods were subject to antidumping duties. See Additional Copy of CF 7501, Sales Contract, Exs. S-l & S-3 to Response of Tianjin Tiancheng Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. to the Supplemental Questionnaire in the New Shipper Review of the Antidumping Duty Order on Glycine from the People’s Republic of China, Attach. to Letter from Francis J. Sailer, Lafave & Sailer LLP, to the Hon. Donald L. Evans, Sec’y of Commerce, Re: First Supplemental Questionnaire Response of Tianjin Tiancheng Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. in the New Shipper Review of Glycine from the People’s Republic of China, CR Doc. No. 11 (Dec. 9, 2002).

In response to a supplemental questionnaire, Plaintiff disclosed that although payment on the sale to Company X had been due one month after the date of sale, the payment was not made until over nine months later. See Pl.’s Conf. Br. at 23-24. This was confirmed by Commerce during verification procedures. See Memorandum from Matthew Renkey & Scott Fullerton, Analysts, Office of AD/CVD Enforcement VII, to The File, Re: New Shipper Review of Glycine from the People’s Republic of China: Sales and Factors Verification Report for Tianjin Tian-cheng Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., CR Doc. No. 19 at 5 (Mar. 6, 2003). Commerce also ascertained that Company X had previously purchased products other than glycine from Plaintiff for importation. See id. Finally, Commerce learned that during the period corresponding to Plaintiffs sale into the United States, Plaintiff had sold the same product to a third-country market for [ ]. See October 10, 2001 Invoice, Spot Checks of Other Sales, Ex. 7. to CR Appendix 1.

Commerce then issued questionnaires to Plaintiffs importer, Company X. See Glycine from the People’s Republic of China, 68 Fed.Reg. 49,434 (Dep’t Commerce Aug. 18, 2003) (notice of rescission of antidump-ing duty new shipper review). The responses confirmed that the January 25, 2002 invoice was paid nine months after the invoice date. See Bank Statement 11/01/02 — 11/29/02, Attach. B to Glycine from PRC (A-570-836) Questionnaire Response, CR Doc. No. 25 (April 28, 2003) (showing that an international funds transfer from Company X to Plaintiff was made on Nov. 22, 2002.) Company X also reported that it had been late in making payment to Plaintiff on previous occasions, but that this transaction represented the longest delay. See Glycine from PRC (A-570-836); Questionnaire Response, CR Doc. No. 35 at Answer 3 (July 17, 2003). In response to questions about Customs irregularities, Company X averred that it had improperly filed documentation because its broker was unaware of the anti-dumping duties on the goods. Id. at Answer 2.

On August 18, 2003 Commerce rescinded Plaintiffs new shipper review. Commerce stated that it was taking this action because the questionnaire responses from both Plaintiff and its importer indicated that the sale upon which the review was based was not bona fide — that is, it was not typical of normal commercial transactions in the industry. Commerce based its finding that the sale was not bona fide on four considerations: (1) the price at which the goods were sold was not “commercially reasonable,” (2) the sales were made outside Plaintiffs normal U.S. sales channels, (3) the extent to which late payment was made by Company X, the importer, and (4) inconsistencies in the import documentation. See Glycine from the People’s Republic of China, 68 Fed.Reg. 49,434, 49,435 (Dep’t Commerce Aug. 18, 2003) (notice of rescission of antidumping duty new shipper review).

*1249 Plaintiff consequently filed suit, seeking review of the determination to rescind the new shipper review. See Remand De-term., CRR Doc. No. 13 at 4 (Apr. 23, 2004). Plaintiff challenged Commerce’s use of factual information upon which the parties had had no opportunity to comment in the determination to rescind. Id. at 4-5. On November 19, 2003, Commerce requested that the Court remand the determination so that the record could be reopened to allow the parties to comment on the two new pieces of factual information: (1) publicly available U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“Customs”) data on average unit values for glycine and (2) proprietary data from a Customs query regarding U.S. imports of glycine from the People’s Republic of China. Id. at 5.

After hearing comments and rebuttals from the parties, as well as after issuing a new questionnaire to Company X, Commerce issued a new determination. See id. at 34r-35. In this new determination, Commerce found that Plaintiffs sale had not been bona fide for the same reasons stated in its earlier determination, except that Commerce now found that the sale had been within Plaintiffs normal U.S. sales channels. Id.

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366 F. Supp. 2d 1246, 29 Ct. Int'l Trade 256, 29 C.I.T. 256, 27 I.T.R.D. (BNA) 1462, 2005 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 31, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tianjin-tiancheng-pharmaceutical-co-v-united-states-cit-2005.