South Korea

Court of International Trade

Summary of Decisions

19-66

On June 3, 2019, in the ongoing case of determining whether or not Plaintiff Midwest Fastener’s zinc and nylon anchor products are considered to be nails, the CIT sustained the Department of Commerce’s final results of the redetermination pursuant to the Court Remand. The CIT concluded that Plaintiff’s zinc and nylon anchors do not function like nails and are considered a separate type of product from nails by the relevant industry. Commerce’s remand results were sustained and Plaintiff Midwest Fastener’s products were excluded from the scope.

19-69

On June 6, the CIT denied Plaintiffs Confederacion de Asociaciones Agricolas del Estado de Sinaloa, Consejo Agricola de Baja California, Asociacion Mexicana de Horticultura Protegida, Asociacion de Productores de Hortalizas del Yaqui y Mayo, and Sistem Producto Tomate (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) motion for a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) and preliminary injunction (“PI”) in the antidumping duty investigation of tomatoes from Mexico. The Court determined that the Plaintiffs had not met their burden to establish the likelihood of success on the merits and irreparable harm absent injunctive relief. They also had failed to establish if the hardships tip in favor of denying the Plaintiff’s motion. The Court also found the public interest to be neutral. For those reasons the CIT denied the plaintiff’s motions.

Investigations

  • Certain Steel Nails from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: On June 19, 2019, Commerce released a notice of its Final Scope Ruling and notice of the Amended Final Scope Ruling in the Antidumping and Countervailing duty orders of the subject merchandise.
  • Steel Propane Cylinders: On June 21, 2019, Commerce announced its final determinations in the Antidumping Duty Investigations for the People’s Republic of China and Thailand.
  • Steel Propane Cylinders from the People’s Republic of China: On June 21, 2019, Commerce released the final affirmative Countervailing Duty determination.
  • Carbon Steel Butt-Weld Pipe Fittings from the People’s Republic of China: On June 21, 2019, Commerce issued the final affirmative determination of Circumvention of the Antidumping Duty Order.
  • Glycine from India and Japan: On June 21, 2019, Commerce released the amended final affirmative Antidumping Duty determination.  

Court of International Trade

Summary of Decisions

19-52

On May 1, 2019, the CIT sustained Commerce’s remand redetermination results following a countervailing duty investigation for certain hot-rolled steel flat products from the Republic of Korea. The court reviewed two issues on remand, Commerce’s selection of the highest calculated AFA rate and Commerce’s corroboration. Concerning the first issued on the selection of the AFA rate, the CIT found that Plaintiff POSCO did not exhaust its administrative remedies. The second issue presented was whether or not the selected 1.05% AFA rate was corroborated based upon substantial evidence and whether Commerce’s selection of a non-de-minimis AFA rate was appropriate because it was a rate calculated for a cooperating Korean company in another countervailing duty proceeding for a similar program.

19-53

On May 2, 2019, in the case of garage door openers that were redesigned to avoid infringement on a registered patent, the CIT denied the ITC’s motion for a stay pending appeal based on the grounds that the ITC did not meet its burden for a stay. A stay of the preliminary injunction and all other proceedings in this matter was not warranted as: (1) the ITC has not demonstrated a “strong showing” of likelihood of success on the merits, (2) the ITC has not demonstrated that it will be irreparably injured absent a stay in this action, (3) the issuance of a stay would substantially injure another party, the Plaintiff, and (4) the public interest is neutral. For those reasons, the CIT denied the ITC’s motion for a stay.

Investigations

  • Glycine from India: On May 1, 2019, Commerce released its final determinations for both the Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Investigation.
  • Glycine from the People’s Republic of China: On May 1, 2019, Commerce released its final affirmative Countervailing Duty determination.
  • Glycine from Japan: On May 1, 2019, Commerce issued its final Antidumping Duty determination.
  • Large Diameter Welded Pipe: On May 2, 2019, Commerce issued an amended final affirmative antidumping determination and antidumping duty order to the following countries: Greece
  • Turkey
  • Republic of Korea
  • Certain Quartz Surface Products from the People’s Republic of China: On May 23, 2019, Commerce released both the final affirmative Countervailing Duty and final affirmative Antidumping Duty determinations.

U.S. International Trade Commission

Section 701/731 Proceedings

Investigations
  • Certain Pasta from Italy and Turkey: On April 10, 2019, the ITC announced its determination that the revocation on certain pasta from Italy and Turkey would lead to the continuation or recurrence of material injury to an industry in the United States.
  • Cast Iron Soil Pipe from the People’s Republic of China: On April 12, 2019, the ITC announced its final determinations in the AD and CVD investigation that industries in the US would be materially injured by the importation of the subject merchandise.
  • Larges Diameter Welded Pipe from Canada, Greece, Korea, and Turkey: On April 19, 2019, the ITC announced its final determination that an industry in the United States is materially injured by the importation of the subject merchandise.
  • Steel Propane Cylinders from China and Thailand: On April 29, 2019, the ITC issued a revised schedule of the final Phase of the Countervailing Duty and Anti-Dumping Duty Investigations.
  • Certain Large Residential Washers from Korea and Mexico: On April 30, 2019, the ITC released its final determinations on whether or not the continuation of the subject merchandise from these countries would continue to cause material injury in the United States.

On April 30, 2018, the President issued two new Proclamations regarding the 232 tariffs imposed on imports of steel and aluminum articles into the United States.  The new Proclamations modify the previous steel and aluminum Proclamations with respect to imports from Canada, Mexico, the European Union, Argentina, Australia, Brazil and South Korea.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it had reached an agreement with South Korea to provide the country with a long term exemption from the 25 percent tariff on steel products imposed by the President under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1862). Instead,…

Country Exemptions

On March 22, 2018, the President issued new Proclamations temporarily exempting imports from certain countries from the steel and aluminum tariffs that were announced in Proclamations 9704 and 9705 of March 8, 2018. The President had previously exempted imports from Canada and Mexico and the new Proclamations add exemptions for imports from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, European Union member countries, and South Korea. However, the Proclamations make clear that the exemptions, including the exemptions for Canada and Mexico, are temporary and that tariffs will go into effect on imports from an exempted country on May 1, 2018 unless the country has reached an agreement with the United States on an alternative means to remove the threat to national security posed by imports of steel articles from the country. If any agreements are reached and any countries are exempted on a long term basis, the President will consider adjustments to the tariff level imposed on non-exempt countries.

In the meantime, the President may consider quotas on imports from exempt countries. If a quota is imposed, the quota amount imposed will take into account all imports of steel and aluminum since January 1, 2018.

While the country exemptions may extend beyond May 1, depending on the progress on trade negotiations, there is no guarantee of such extensions.