AD Petitioner Rails Against Exporter's Bid to Fix Mistake in Brief at CIT
Antidumping duty petitioner Mid Continent Steel & Wire in a Feb. 9 brief opposed plaintiff Oman Fasteners' bid for leave to fix mistakes in its recent motion to take judicial notice. Mid Continent said the trade court should refuse to give Oman Fasteners "another bite at the apple" to fix the mistakes in the brief, noting that this is the "second time in less than a month" that the exporter has asked the trade court for permission to address problems in one of its filings (Oman Fasteners v. U.S., CIT # 22-00348).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
"The factual problems Mid Continent identified in Oman Fasteners’ Motion to Take Judicial Notice are, yet again, of Oman Fasteners’ own making, just like the errors at Commerce that led to this appeal in the first place," the brief said. "Oman Fasteners’ attempt to further explain away factual inconsistencies and inject new argument -- particularly in the midst of this expedited proceeding -- is unwarranted and will consume the precious time and resources of both the parties and the Court."
The case concerns the sixth administrative review of the antidumping duty order on steel nails from Oman, covering entries in 2020-2021. In the past five reviews, the exporter said it received a 0.56%, zero, zero, zero and 1.65% dumping margin, respectively. Oman Fasteners was a fully cooperating respondent in the review with the only hang-up coming from the exporter's supplemental Section C questionnaire responses. Part of the response was filed 16 minutes late, resulting in a total adverse facts available rate of 154.33%.
In its complaint and motion for a preliminary injunction (see 2212280043), Oman Fasteners dubbed the AFA rate "draconian" and said that the company would face insolvency unless it can quickly resume its U.S. sales and maintain them throughout the case. In a separate proceeding, PrimeSource Building Products v. U.S., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said that Section 232 duties were legally imposed. Oman Fasteners says the decision exacerbates the need for the injunction, filing a motion to take judicial notice (see 2302080070).