CIT Reiterates Limits on Ability to Expand Scope of AD/CV Duties Through Anti-Circumvention Inquiries

Goods cannot be found to have undergone a “minor alteration” to circumvent antidumping or countervailing duties if the Commerce Department knew an article existed commercially when writing an AD/CVD order, yet excluded it from the order anyway, said the Court of International Trade on Dec. 22 as it sustained a remand redetermination on steel wire rod from Mexico that was filed by Commerce under protest (here). CIT had in 2013 told Commerce to reconsider its finding that Deacero’s 4.75mm wire rod is circumventing the AD duty order, even though the scope of the order specifies that only wire rod between 5 mm and 19 mm in diameter is subject to duties. CIT pointed to evidence that the 4.75 mm wire was commercially available when Commerce issued the order in 2002. It would have been different if the scope was ambiguous as to whether 4.75mm wire was covered, but the agency’s decision to specifically limit the minimum diameter to 5 mm in the order even though it knew smaller wire existed means Commerce can’t go back later and effectively change the scope of duties by finding the 4.75 mm wire is also covered, said CIT.