CIT Upholds Wire Hanger Evasion Finding in Confidential Opinion
The Court of International Trade in a confidential Jan. 24 opinion upheld CBP's evasion finding in an Enforce and Protect Act case brought by Leco Supply. In a letter accompanying the decision, Judge Mark Barnett gave the parties until Jan. 31 to review the confidential information in the opinion (Leco Supply v. United States, CIT # 21-00136).
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In the investigation, CBP found that Leco evaded antidumping and countervailing duties on wire hangers from Vietnam by falsely claiming that they were from Laos. After the importer filed suit at CIT, CBP requested a voluntary remand to reconsider the state of its public summaries of the case's confidential information and the evidentiary record. After returning with the voluntary remand results, CBP said that it accomplished its twin goals of not releasing confidential information to parties not authorized to see it while ensuring proper levels of transparency in the investigation (see 2111120064).
Leco, in response, blasted CBP's remand results as still in violation of the law, railing against the agency's use of adverse facts available over information submitted from Truong Hong, the Laotian producer of the hangers, and CBP's alleged continued due process rights violations. Barnett sided with CBP in the decision, though, ultimately upholding the remand results.