United States Steel Corp. v. United States , 2011 CIT 66 ( 2011 )


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  •                             Slip Op. 11 - 66
    UNITED STATES COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE
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    UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION,       :
    Plaintiff, :
    -and-                :
    NUCOR CORPORATION,                     :
    Intervenor-Plaintiff, :
    v.                :   Court No. 08-00216
    THE UNITED STATES,                     :
    Defendant, :
    -and-                :
    ESSAR STEEL, LIMITED,                  :
    Intervenor-Defendant. :
    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x
    Memorandum & Order
    [Motions for judgment on agency record granted;
    remanded to International Trade Administration.]
    Decided:   June 14, 2011
    Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (Robert E.
    Lighthizer, Jeffrey D. Gerrish, Ellen J. Schneider, M. Allison
    Guagliardo, and Luke A. Meisner) for the plaintiff.
    Wiley Rein LLP (Alan H. Price, Timothy C. Brightbill, and
    Maureen E. Thorson) for the intervenor-plaintiff.
    Tony West, Assistant Attorney General; Jeanne E. Davidson,
    Director, Patricia M. McCarthy, Assistant Director, Commercial
    Litigation Branch, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice
    (David D’Alessandris); and Office of the Chief Counsel for Import
    Court No. 08-00216                                                     Page 2
    Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce (Thomas M. Beline), of
    counsel, for the defendant.
    Arent Fox LLP (Mark P. Lunn and Diana Dimitriuc Quaia) for the
    intervenor-defendant.
    AQUILINO, Senior Judge:        This case contests two aspects
    of Certain Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products From India: Notice
    of Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 
    73 Fed. Reg. 31,961
     (Dep’t of Comm.          June 5, 2008) (“Final Results”),
    covering a 2005-2006 period of review (“POR”).
    The    court’s    jurisdiction   is   pursuant   to    19   U.S.C.
    §1516a(a)(2)(A) and 
    28 U.S.C. §§ 1581
    (c) and 2631(c).
    I
    Moving for judgment on the agency record, the plaintiff
    United   States   Steel     Corporation   (“USSC”)   and   the   intervenor-
    plaintiff Nucor Corporation initially contend the International
    Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce (“ITA”) erred in
    dating certain exports of Essar Steel Limited from India to the
    United States.      The defendant also perceives inadequacy and
    requests remand in order to “reevaluate record evidence and change
    or more fully explain” its position on the issue.                Defendant’s
    Response to . . . Motions for Judgment Upon the Administrative
    Record (“Gov’t Br.”), p. 2.       See 
    id. at 16
    .
    Court No. 08-00216                                                  Page 3
    Because the request does not involve a change in or
    interpretation of policy and does not appear frivolous or in bad
    faith, cf. SKF USA Inc. v. United States, 
    254 F.3d 1022
    , 1029 (Fed.
    Cir. 2001), remand appears appropriate and is therefore hereby
    ordered.
    II
    USSC and Nucor also claim it was unreasonable for ITA to
    have   adjusted   Essar’s   U.S.   sales   price   contrary   to   section
    772(c)(1)(B) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, i.e., by “the
    amount of any import duties imposed by the country of exportation
    which have been rebated, or which have not been collected, by
    reason of the exportation of the subject merchandise to the United
    States.” 19 U.S.C. §1677a(c)(1)(B). See 73 Fed.Reg. at 31,964 and
    Issues and Decision Memorandum to Final Results (“DecMemo”) at
    comment 18.   Cf. Public Record Document (“PDoc”) 184. Their claim
    concerns the “Advance Licence” program of the Government of India
    (“GOI”), pursuant to which, as revealed in the administrative
    record, a company may be authorized to import certain quantities of
    raw materials for further processing without payment of import
    duties thereon upon condition that proper documentation is provided
    to establish exportation within the time specified by the license
    Court No. 08-00216                                                     Page 4
    of the required amount of further processed goods, at which point
    the non-collection of duties becomes final.               See, e.g., Essar’s
    Supplemental Questionnaire Response (“SQR”) at Ex. 16B, pp. 65-68,
    and Ex. 16C, p. 1, PDoc 90.           The critical point, USSC and Nucor
    argue, is that, if no such proof is provided to GOI, the relevant
    processor remains liable for the uncollected import duties.
    A
    Essar    claimed     an   adjustment    for   duty   drawback   and
    “reported    in     its   U.S.    sales     the    advance   license   number
    corresponding to each commercial invoice[.]” Essar’s Questionnaire
    Response (“QR”) at C-33, PDoc 50, Confidential Record Document
    (“ConfDoc”) 9.      It provided the following for support: (1) a copy
    of a publication announcing the per-kilogram input amount(s) for
    “standard input output norm C-495” (“SION”), pertaining, inter
    alia, to subject merchandise, and a copy of relevant GOI law and
    regulation on its advance license program; (2) copies of advance
    licenses issued to Essar under that program; (3) bills supporting
    an ITA finding of entry into GOI customs of, inter alia, material
    imported pursuant to the licenses (said bills bearing handwritten
    numbers or notes evidently correlative to the SION calculus); and
    (4) a table of the amount of duty drawback Essar had purportedly
    received during the POR pursuant to the advance license program.
    Court No. 08-00216                                            Page 5
    See id. at C-33, C-34, & Ex. C-13 (A, B & C), PDoc 50, ConfDoc 9;
    Essar’s SQR at 19, Ex. 16 (A, B & C), Ex. 17, & Ex. 18, PDoc 90,
    ConfDoc 33.    Based upon that information, Essar claimed a certain
    license-specific duty saving from each commercial invoice in its
    U.S. sales listing but claimed none from a fourth license it
    contended was yet to be utilized during the POR.       Essar’s QR at
    C-33, PDoc 50, ConfDoc 9.     See Defendant-Intervenor Essar Steel
    Limited's Response to . . . Motions for Judgment on the Agency
    Record Pursuant to Rule 56.2, p. 15.
    In its preliminary results, ITA found Essar had failed to
    provide sufficient evidence to show it had received “rebates” from
    the GOI as duty drawback and rejected the duty-drawback adjustment
    request.    See Preliminary Results Calculation Memorandum, p. 2,
    PDoc 131.     Essar argued in its brief to the agency, inter alia,
    that ITA had misapprehended GOI’s advance license program as a
    program of direct rebate upon export whereas the program actually
    involves non-collection of import duty on a contingent basis, and
    that it, Essar, had in fact provided sufficient evidence to meet
    the requirements for adjustment.    See Essar’s Case Brief, pp. 2-6,
    PDoc 162.   Responding, USSC and Nucor contended Essar had failed to
    establish entitlement thereto, in significant part because it did
    Court No. 08-00216                                          Page 6
    not prove full compliance with the advance license program’s post-
    export requirements.   See, e.g., Rebuttal Brief on Behalf of USSC,
    pp. 1-6, PDoc 170.
    In the Final Results, ITA agreed it had mistakenly
    believed Essar’s duty-drawback-adjustment claim had been based upon
    a different drawback program and acknowledged that GOI’s advance
    license program could meet its test for a drawback adjustment. See
    DecMemo at comment 18.   ITA then
    re[-]analyzed the record evidence . . . and found that
    Essar’s advance license program used SION (the standard
    the GOI uses to calculate the quantity of imports that
    are eligible for duty drawback based on a specified
    quantity of exports), and that this meets the
    requirements of the Department's two-prong test: 1) the
    import duties and rebates are directly linked to, and are
    dependent upon, one another, and 2) the company claiming
    the adjustment can demonstrate that there are sufficient
    raw material imports to account for the duty drawback
    received on exports of the manufactured product.[1] . . .
    Essar's reported SION of import duties and rebates were
    directly linked to, and are dependent upon, one another.
    Id. (footnotes omitted and referencing, inter alia, Essar’s QR at
    Ex. C-13 (generally) & Essar’s SQR at Ex. C-18).
    1
    See Antidumping Methodologies: Market Economy Inputs,
    Expected Non-Market Economy Wages, Duty Drawback; and Request for
    Comments, 71 Fed.Reg. 61,716 (Dep’t of Comm. Oct. 19, 2006).
    Court No. 08-00216                                                         Page 7
    B
    USSC and Nucor do not contest ITA’s test per se, which
    has been upheld in other circumstances, e.g., Carlisle Tire &
    Rubber Co. v. United States, 
    11 CIT 168
    , 
    657 F.Supp. 1287
     (1987),
    rather the finding that Essar met its requirements. That is, while
    in     accordance     with    law    within    the   meaning    of   19   U.S.C.
    §1516a(b)(1)(B)(I), the finding is not supported by the requisite
    substantial evidence2 on the agency record.
    The defendant posits that the two prongs of the duty
    drawback test “focus first ‘on the drawback program itself’ and
    second on ‘the specific application of the drawback program to the
    firm claiming the adjustment.’” Gov’t Br., p. 10, quoting Far East
    Machinery Co. v. United States, 
    12 CIT 428
    , 431, 
    688 F.Supp. 610
    ,
    612 (1988).       It contends ITA properly found the test satisfied in
    this       instance   in   light    of   the   evidence   of   Essar’s    subject
    merchandise exports in its U.S. sales database linked to the
    company’s       advance license and import data via the relevant SION
    2
    “Substantial evidence is . . . such relevant evidence as a
    reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.”
    Consolidated Edison Co. v. NLRB, 
    305 U.S. 197
    , 229 (1938).       It
    requires “something less than the weight of the evidence, and the
    possibility of drawing two inconsistent conclusions from the
    evidence does not prevent an administrative agency's finding from
    being supported by substantial evidence.”      Consolo v. Federal
    Maritime Comm'n, 
    383 U.S. 607
    , 619-20 (1966).
    Court No. 08-00216                                                     Page 8
    used by GOI for the advance license program.            
    Id.,
     referencing
    DecMemo at comment 18, citing Notice of Final Determination of
    Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat
    Products from India, 66 Fed.Reg. 50,406 (Dep’t of Comm.            Oct. 3,
    2001).
    Given that the second prong’s concern is only with
    respect to imported material input amounts, however, the first
    prong cannot reasonably be focused solely upon “the drawback
    program itself” –– in disregard of a claimant’s specific compliance
    with program requirements.     See, e.g., Rajinder Pipes Ltd. v.
    United States, 
    23 CIT 656
    , 
    70 F.Supp.2d 1350
     (1999) (party must
    show the link between its duty-free imports and its exports as part
    of first prong of drawback adjustment test).       In the context of a
    rebate program, the proper “payment” of import duty must still be
    proved, or any linking of a “rebate” will be problematic.                See,
    e.g., Allied Tube & Conduit Corp. v. United States, 
    25 CIT 23
    , 
    132 F.Supp.2d 1087
     (2001).   Similarly, the mere finding of validity on
    a   “non-collection”-duty-drawback    program    without       proof   of    a
    respondent’s   full   compliance   therewith    would    not    amount      to
    substantial evidence on the record to support imputing a “link”
    between such respondent’s exports and duty-free imports.
    Court No. 08-00216                                               Page 9
    The SION formula may be considered necessary but is
    insufficient, on its own, to prove “duty-free” importation linked
    to exportation for purposes of U.S. antidumping law.        SION simply
    equates input for a given output.      SION’s bare existence in the
    record, in the absence of proof of compliance with GOI’s post-
    export requirements or official excuse of contingent liability for
    GOI customs duty on the imported input(s), cannot reasonably be
    concluded to amount to substantial evidence on the record of
    definitive lack of such liability.
    The defendant argues, nonetheless, there is nothing in
    the statute or in the two-prong test requiring submission of export
    documentation   to   establish   entitlement   to   the   duty-drawback
    adjustment. Gov’t Br., p. 12, referencing Rajinder, 23 CIT at 665,
    
    70 F.Supp.2d at 1358
     (“in making its adjustment determinations on
    non-collection programs, Commerce has applied the same two-prong
    duty drawback test as it has in standard rebate programs”).        The
    defendant further argues the court must defer to ITA’s conclusions
    if the evidence supports them, and it implies the agency’s previous
    grant of the duty-drawback adjustment to Essar in the original
    investigation was a factor in ITA’s decision in this matter.        See
    id. at 12-13, referencing, inter alia, Certain Hot-Rolled Carbon
    Steel Flat Products from India, supra.    See DecMemo at comment 18.
    Court No. 08-00216                                                        Page 10
    The first point may be so, but this memorandum is not
    intended to delimit what would properly satisfy the two-prong test.
    The general rule, however, is that an agency’s decisions must be
    consistent, or reasonably explained for deviation. E.g., Secretary
    of Agric. v. United States, 
    347 U.S. 645
     (1954).                  The fact that
    Essar may have satisfied the duty-drawback test in the original
    investigation does not answer whether it also did so during the
    administrative review at bar.           See, e.g., Alloy Piping Products,
    Inc. v. United States, 33 CIT ___, Slip Op. 09-29 at 22, 
    2009 WL 983078
       at    *9    (April   14,   2009)    (“different   data    compiled   in
    different periods of review . . . have no legal effect on the
    administrative review” under consideration), appeal docketed, No.
    2010-1288 (Fed.Cir.       April 6, 2010).
    Based on the present record, USSC and Nucor now cast
    reasonable doubt on how ITA reached its conclusion.                    The plain
    language   thereof      appears     simply   to   have   assumed   that    Essar’s
    liability for import duties incurred during the POR was no longer
    conditional.        At first blush, that might have appeared not unrea-
    sonable3, but assumption is not substantial evidence.                  Compare
    3
    It appears undisputed that the record would support finding
    that import duties on input(s) were not paid, and that export of
    subject merchandise embodying transformed input(s) of the same
    class or kind (whether or not consisting of those duty-deferred
    imports) to the United States did occur.
    Court No. 08-00216                                                     Page 11
    Jinan Yipin Corp. v. United States, 
    31 CIT 1901
    , 1933, 
    526 F.Supp. 2d 1347
    , 1375 (2007) (rejecting ITA’s determination based on “mere
    assumptions, which find no apparent support in record evidence”)
    with Pohang Iron & Steel Co. v. United States, 
    23 CIT 778
    , 790-91
    (1999)(an administrative inference must evince “some likelihood” of
    truth from the record, not mere possibility).
    Essar had the burden of establishing entitlement to the
    duty-drawback adjustment.          See, e.g., Fujitsu General Ltd. v.
    United States, 
    88 F.3d 1034
    , 1040 (Fed.Cir. 1996).                   There is
    nothing of record, however, to suggest that subsequent collection
    of deferred import duties by GOI for any non-compliance of the
    requirements of the advance license program was precluded, de jure
    or de facto, simply by reason of export to the United States.              If
    there is such proof of permanent excuse, or removal by affirmative
    action vis-à-vis GOI or otherwise, of Essar’s contingent liability
    for import duties, it is not obvious from this administrative
    record.     For example, as USSC and Nucor argued, there is no
    apparent    proof   of    export   submitted   to   the   relevant   Regional
    Authority    within      two   months   from   expiration   of   the   export
    obligation period, as required under the GOI program, nor does the
    record encompass any shipping bills bearing a relevant advance
    license number or evince that export itself could not have occurred
    Court No. 08-00216                                                      Page 12
    except in compliance with the advance license program. See Essar’s
    SQR       at   Exhibit   16B    (“Handbook    of     Procedures-(Vol.      I)”,
    9/1/2004--3/31/2009, Min. of Comm. and Indus., Dept. of Comm.,
    GOI), p. 58 (shipping documents “should be” endorsed with advance
    license file or authorization number “to establish co- relation of
    exports . . . with Authorization issued”) and p. 65 (“Monitoring of
    Obligation”)4.
    Certainly,    process   matters,    and   ITA   is   required   to
    address all relevant argument, 19 U.S.C. §1677f(i)(3)(A), but its
    DecMemo to the Final Results herein inadequately addresses USSC’s
    and Nucor’s relevant concern(s) over whether the agency duty-
    drawback adjustment test may lawfully be interpreted not to require
    proof or corroboration of the complete removal of contingent
    liability for deferred import duties under the GOI advance license
    program (via compliance, e.g., with GOI’s post-export requirements
    under Indian law).          Cf. 19 U.S.C. §1677a(c)(1)(B) (“by reason of
    the exportation of the subject merchandise to the United States”).
    4
    Cf. Rajinder Pipes Ltd. v. United States, 
    23 CIT 656
    , 659-60
    and 
    70 F.Supp.2d 1350
    , 1358, n. 3 (1999) (describing a program
    involving a “duty exemption entitlement certificate” book
    purportedly submitted to GOI customs officials upon export).
    Court No. 08-00216                                                       Page 13
    III
    In    view     of     the         foregoing,    plaintiff's    and
    intervenor-plaintiff's motions for judgment on the agency record
    should be, and they hereby are, granted to the extent of remand of
    the Final Results to ITA to clarify or reconsider its analysis of
    the intervenor-defendant's entitlement to duty-drawback adjustment
    within the meaning of 19 U.S.C. §1677a(c)(1)(B).               Specifically, if
    ITA’s position on remand is that the evidence of record proves
    Essar’s contingent liability for deferred import duties has been
    removed or permanently excused, the remand results shall clarify
    why   th at    is   so,     or    ITA   may      reconsider    the   issue   of
    Essar’s       eligibility    for   duty-drawback       adjustment    altogether,
    should that be determined necessary on remand -- and in light of
    this decision.5
    5
    Although not relevant to this memorandum, this court
    considers exhaustion arguments inapplicable with respect to USSC’s
    and Nucor’s point regarding inconsistency in the Final Results as
    compared with ITA’s pronouncement in Certain Hot-Rolled Carbon
    Steel Flat Products from India, 73 Fed.Reg. 40,295 (Dep’t of Comm.
    July 14, 2008) (final results), Issues and Decision Memorandum at
    comment 22 (“India does not have an effective system in place
    during the POR for regularly monitoring and updating the accuracy
    of SIONs”), the companion countervailing-duty administrative review
    of hot rolled steel from India, involving overlapping review
    periods, and issued approximately one month after the Final Results
    herein. See, e.g., China Steel Corp. v. United States, 
    28 CIT 38
    ,
    59, 
    306 F.Supp.2d 1291
    , 1310 (2004) (on challenge to basis for
    corroboration, exhaustion inapplicable where ITA did not explain
    its basis until final determination).
    Court No. 08-00216                                         Page 14
    The defendant may have until August 5, 2011 to carry out
    that analysis and report the results thereof to the court and the
    parties, which may comment thereon on or before September 2, 2011.
    So ordered.
    Decided:   New York, New York
    June 14, 2011
    /s/    Thomas J. Aquilino, Jr.
    Senior Judge