Petitioner Asks CAFC to Speed Up Appeal on Scope Ruling of Magnesia Carbon Bricks
AD/CVD petitioner Magnesia Carbon Bricks Fair Trade Committee asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to speed up its appeal on the Commerce Department's decision to exclude seven types of bricks imported by Fedmet Resources Corp. from the scope of the antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders on magnesia carbon bricks from China. The petitioner said the relief it's seeking is "modest," and that a sped-up briefing schedule is needed to "prevent competitive harms" to the "domestic refractory-brick industry" that should be subject to "significant AD/CVD duties" (Fedmet Resources v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 26-1160).
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In particular, the committee asked that it be allowed to file its opening brief "as promptly as possible," that the U.S. and Fedmet be required to file their replies "within the ordinary deadlines permitted under the rules (without any extension)," and that the court schedule the case for argument "at its earliest convenience" and decide the case by August 2026.
The U.S. told the petitioner it objected to the motion to expedite, arguing that it can't consent to a proposal that bars the government from filing motions to extend filing deadlines. The government added that it took no position on the proposed briefing schedule, though it said it couldn't think of any reason the case would have to be decided by August 2026. Fedmet said it took the same position as the government.
In the scope ruling at issue, Commerce initially said 11 of Fedmet's brick types fit under the scope of the orders, subjecting them to steep duties. However, the Court of International Trade remanded the scope ruling on the grounds that the agency ignored a key 2014 CAFC ruling, which led to the standard that the addition of any amount of alumina to a magnesia carbon brick excludes it from the orders (see 2412130061). The trade court said Commerce's scope ruling, in which the agency said magnesia carbon bricks with an alumina content above 5% are magnesia alumina carbon bricks and thus excluded from the AD/CVD orders, doesn't comport with the CAFC ruling.
On remand, Commerce said that since seven of Fedmet's bricks are certified to have a non-zero alumina content, they aren't subject to the orders (see 2503130022). CIT affirmed the exclusion of seven of Fedmet's brick types.
The petitioner appealed and moved for expedited consideration of the case, arguing that the trade court's ruling "will irreparably harm" the committee, "which is a group of domestic producers of" magnesia carbon bricks. It's crucial the appellate court "resolve this appeal as promptly as possible so that, on remand," the petitioner can "obtain the injunctive relief needed to prevent Customs from liquidating [magnesia carbon brick] entries without first requiring the importer to pay the applicable AD/CVD duties," the brief said.
CBP typically liquidates such entries within 314 days, the petitioner noted. Without an expedited briefing schedule, "importers will have an incentive to import as many MCBs with trace amounts of alumina as they can now -- at dumped (and injurious) prices -- on the expectation that those entries will be liquidated before the decision below is reversed," the petitioner argued."