Notice2022-28400
Aluminum Extrusions From the People's Republic of China: Notice of Court Decisions Not in Harmony With Final Scope Ruling and Notice of Amended Final Scope Rulings Pursuant to Court Decisions
Primary source
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Published
December 29, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
On December 16, 2022, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) issued its final judgments in Worldwide Door Components, Inc. v. United States, Slip Op. 22-143, Court No. 19-00012 (Worldwide IV), and Columbia Aluminum Products, LLC v. United States, Slip Op. 22-144, Court No. 19-00013 (Columbia IV), sustaining the U.S. Department of Commerce's (Commerce) third remand redeterminations pertaining to the scope ruling for the antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders on aluminum extrusions from the People's Republic of China (China). In the redeterminations, Commerce found that certain door thresholds imported by Worldwide Door Components, Inc. (Worldwide) and Columbia Aluminum Products, Inc. (Columbia) are outside the scope of the orders, pursuant to the CIT's remand orders in Worldwide Door Components, Inc. v. United States, Court No. 19-00012, Slip Op. 22-91 (CIT August 10, 2022) (Worldwide III) and Columbia Aluminum Products, Inc. v. United States, Court No. 19-00013, Slip Op. 22-92 (CIT August 10, 2022) (Columbia III). Commerce is notifying the public that the CIT's final judgments are not in harmony with Commerce's final scope ruling, and that Commerce is amending the scope ruling to find that the Worldwide and Columbia door thresholds are outside the scope of the orders.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 249 (Thursday, December 29, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 249 (Thursday, December 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80160-80161]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-28400]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-967, C-570-968]
Aluminum Extrusions From the People's Republic of China: Notice
of Court Decisions Not in Harmony With Final Scope Ruling and Notice of
Amended Final Scope Rulings Pursuant to Court Decisions
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: On December 16, 2022, the U.S. Court of International Trade
(CIT) issued its final judgments in Worldwide Door Components, Inc. v.
United States, Slip Op. 22-143, Court No. 19-00012 (Worldwide IV), and
Columbia Aluminum Products, LLC v. United States, Slip Op. 22-144,
Court No. 19-00013 (Columbia IV), sustaining the U.S. Department of
Commerce's (Commerce) third remand redeterminations pertaining to the
scope ruling for the antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD)
orders on aluminum extrusions from the People's Republic of China
(China). In the redeterminations, Commerce found that certain door
thresholds imported by Worldwide Door Components, Inc. (Worldwide) and
Columbia Aluminum Products, Inc. (Columbia) are outside the scope of
the orders, pursuant to the CIT's remand orders in Worldwide Door
Components, Inc. v. United States, Court No. 19-00012, Slip Op. 22-91
(CIT August 10, 2022) (Worldwide III) and Columbia Aluminum Products,
Inc. v. United States, Court No. 19-00013, Slip Op. 22-92 (CIT August
10, 2022) (Columbia III). Commerce is notifying the public that the
CIT's final judgments are not in harmony with Commerce's final scope
ruling, and that Commerce is amending the scope ruling to find that the
Worldwide and Columbia door thresholds are outside the scope of the
orders.
DATES: Applicable December 26, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael J. Heaney, AD/CVD Operations,
Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4475.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On December 19, 2018, Commerce issued its Final Scope Rulings \1\
that
[[Page 80161]]
certain door thresholds imported by Worldwide and Columbia fall within
the scope of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on aluminum
extrusions from China.\2\ Worldwide and Columbia appealed Commerce's
Final Scope Ruling. On December 23, 2020, pursuant to the CIT's first
remand orders in Worldwide I and Columbia I,\3\ Commerce issued its
First Final Remand Redeterminations, in which Commerce continued to
find that Worldwide's and Columbia's door thresholds were subassemblies
included in the scope of the Orders and, therefore, failed to satisfy
the requirements for the finished merchandise exclusion.\4\
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\1\ See Memorandum, ``Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Order
on Aluminum Extrusions from the People's Republic of China: Final
Scope Rulings on Worldwide Door Components Inc., MJB Wood Group,
Inc. and Columbia Door Thresholds,'' dated December 19, 2018 (Final
Scope Rulings).
\2\ See Aluminum Extrusions from the People's Republic of China:
Antidumping Duty Order, 76 FR 30650 (May 26, 2011); and Aluminum
Extrusions from the People's Republic of China: Countervailing Duty
Order, 76 FR 30653 (May 26, 2011) (collectively, the Orders).
\3\ See Worldwide Door Components, Inc. v. United States, 466 F.
Supp. 3d 1370 (CIT 2020) (Worldwide I); and Columbia Aluminum
Products, LLC v. United States, 470 F. Supp. 3d 1353 (CIT 2020)
(Columbia I).
\4\ See Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Court
Remand, Aluminum Extrusions from the People's Republic of China,
Worldwide Door Components, Inc. v. United States, Court No. 19-
00012, Slip Op. 20-128 (CIT August 27, 2020), dated December 23,
2020, available at <a href="https://access.trade.gov/resources/remands/20-128.pdf">https://access.trade.gov/resources/remands/20-128.pdf</a>; Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Court Remand,
Aluminum Extrusions from the People's Republic of China, Columbia
Aluminum Products, LLC v. United States, Court No. 19-00013, Slip
Op. 20-129 (CIT August 27, 2020), dated December 23, 2020, available
at <a href="https://access.trade.gov/resources/remands/20-129.pdf">https://access.trade.gov/resources/remands/20-129.pdf</a>
(collectively, First Final Remand Redeterminations).
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In Worldwide II and Columbia II, the CIT determined that Commerce
impermissibly based its analysis in the First Final Remand
Redeterminations on inferences that were contradicted or unsupported by
other information on the record.\5\ The CIT directed Commerce to
reconsider whether Worldwide and Columbia door thresholds required
cutting or machining prior to incorporation into another product, and
to determine whether Worldwide's and Columbia's door thresholds
qualified for the finished merchandise exclusion.\6\ On December 13,
2021, Commerce issued its Second Final Remand Redeterminations, in
which Commerce determined that Worldwide's and Columbia's door
thresholds were excluded from the Orders as finished merchandise.\7\
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\5\ See Worldwide Door Components, Inc. v. United States, 537 F.
Supp. 3d 1403, 1404-05, 1408-09 (CIT 2021) (Worldwide II); and
Columbia Aluminum Products, LLC v. United States, 536 F. Supp. 3d
1346 (CIT 2021) (Columbia II).
\6\ See Worldwide II, 537 F. Supp. 3d at 1404-05, 1414; and
Columbia II, 536 F. Supp. 3d at 1354.
\7\ See Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Court
Remand, Worldwide Door Components, Inc. v. United States, Court No.
19-00012, Slip Op. 21-115 (CIT September 14, 2021), dated December
13, 2021, available at <a href="https://access.trade.gov/resources/remands/21-115.pdf">https://access.trade.gov/resources/remands/21-115.pdf</a>; Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Court
Remand, Columbia Aluminum Products, LLC. v. United States, Court No.
19-00013, Slip Op. 21-116 (CIT September 14, 2021), dated December
13, 2021, available at <a href="https://access.trade.gov/resources/remands/21-116.pdf">https://access.trade.gov/resources/remands/21-116.pdf</a> (collectively, Second Final Remand Redeterminations).
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In Worldwide III and Columbia III, the CIT held that Commerce's
Second Final Remand Redeterminations misconstrued aspects of the CIT's
decision in Worldwide II and Columbia II and were not submitted in a
form the CIT could sustain upon judicial review.\8\ The CIT directed
Commerce to issue a new determination, in a form that would go into
effect if sustained upon judicial review, determining whether the
extruded aluminum components of Worldwide's and Columbia's door
thresholds are within the scope of the Orders.\9\
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\8\ See Worldwide III, 589 F. Supp. 3d 1185, 1192-95 (CIT 2022);
and Columbia III, 587 F. Supp. 3d 1375, 1382-85 (CIT 2022).
\9\ See Worldwide III, 589 F. Supp. 3d at 1195; and Columbia
III, 587 F. Supp. 3d at 1385.
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In the Third Final Remand Redeterminations, Commerce continued to
find, in accordance with the CIT's holdings, that Worldwide's and
Columbia's door thresholds are outside the scope of the Orders based on
the finished merchandise exclusion; Commerce also provided further
explanation for the basis of that finding and clarified that Commerce
did not intend to issue any other scope ruling or other agency
determination subsequent to the CIT's order.\10\ The CIT subsequently
sustained Commerce's remand redeterminations in Worldwide III and
Columbia III.\11\
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\10\ See Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Court
Remand, Worldwide Door Components, Inc. v. United States, Court No.
19-00012, Slip Op. 22-91 (CIT August 10, 2022), dated September 8,
2022, available at <a href="https://access.trade.gov/resources/remands//22-91.pdf">https://access.trade.gov/resources/remands//22-91.pdf</a>; and Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Court
Remand, Columbia Aluminum Products, LLC. v. United States, Court No.
19-00013, Slip Op. 22-92 (CIT August 10, 2022), dated September 8,
2022, available at <a href="https://access.trade.gov/resources/remands/22-92.pdf">https://access.trade.gov/resources/remands/22-92.pdf</a> (collectively, Third Final Remand Redeterminations).
\11\ See Worldwide IV, Slip Op. 22-143 at 6; and Columbia IV,
Slip Op. 22-144 at 6.
\12\ See Timken Co. v. United States, 893 F.2d 337 (Fed. Cir.
1990) (Timken).
\13\ See Diamond Sawblades Manufacturers Coalition v. United
States, 626 F.3d 1374 (Fed. Cir. 2010) (Diamond Sawblades).
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Timken Notice
In its decision in Timken,\12\ as clarified by Diamond
Sawblades,\13\ the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held
that, pursuant to sections 516A(c) and (e) of the Tariff Act of 1930,
as amended (the Act), Commerce must publish a notice of court decision
that is not ``in harmony'' with a Commerce determination and must
suspend liquidation of entries pending a ``conclusive'' court decision.
The CIT's December 16, 2022 judgements constitute final decisions of
the CIT that are not in harmony with Commerce's Final Scope Ruling.
Thus, this notice is published in fulfillment of the publication
requirements of Timken.
Amended Final Scope Ruling
In accordance with the CIT's December 16, 2022, final judgments,
Commerce is amending its Final Scope Ruling and determines that the
scope of the Orders does not cover Worldwide's and Columbia's door
thresholds addressed in the Final Scope Ruling.
Liquidation of Suspended Entries
Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
that, pending any appeals, the cash deposit rate will be zero percent
for entries of Worldwide's and Columbia's door thresholds produced in
China. In accordance with the CIT's order sustaining Commerce's third
final remand redetermination, Commerce intends to, with the publication
of this notice, issue instructions to CBP to lift suspension of
liquidation of such entries, and to liquidate entries of the door
thresholds without regard to antidumping duties, with consideration for
any potential appeal of the CIT's final judgement.
Notification to Interested Parties
This notice is issued and published in accordance with sections
516A(c) and (e), and 777(i)(1) of the Act.
Dated: December 23, 2022.
Lisa W. Wang,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2022-28400 Filed 12-28-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 29, 2022.
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