BARNETT, Judge:
Defendant, the United States, moves, pursuant to USCIT Rules 12(b)(1) and 56,
On May 24 and June 14, 2006, Plaintiff made two entries of industrial hand trucks, manufactured by Qingdao Taifa Group Company, Limited
On February 2, 2007, Commerce commenced an administrative review of the antidumping duty order for the period of December 1, 2005, through November 30, 2006 ("the second period of review"). Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews and Request for Revocation in Part, 72 Fed.Reg. 5005 (Dep't of Commerce Feb. 2, 2007). Pursuant to the initiation of that administrative review, Commerce instructed Customs to "continue to suspend liquidations" for "imports of hand trucks and certain parts thereof from" the PRC "entered or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after May 24, 2004." MSJ Ex. B (Admin. Message No. 4288203 from Directors of Field Ops, Port Directors to Director AD/CVD & Revenue Policy & Programs) ¶ 4. On July 28, 2008, Commerce issued the final results of the administrative review, which assigned a dumping margin of 383.60 percent to imports from Qingdao Taifa ("Review Results") during the second period of review. Hand Trucks and Certain Parts Thereof from the People's Republic of China, 73 Fed.Reg. 43,684, 43,687 (Dep't of Commerce July 28, 2008) (2005-2006 administrative review final results).
On August 13, 2008, Qingdao Taifa filed suit in this court, challenging the Review Results and moving for a preliminary injunction to enjoin Customs from liquidating, inter alia, American Power Pull's entries, at the 383.60 percent duty rate. Qingdao Taifa Group Co., Ltd. v. United
On July 20, 2012, Commerce issued liquidation instructions to Customs covering all imports from Qingdao Taifa during the second period of review, including American Power Pull's entries. The instructions informed Customs that the injunction enjoining liquidation of the entries had dissolved and instructed Customs to liquidate, inter alia, Plaintiff's entries at the court-affirmed rate of 145.90 percent. MSJ Ex. E ¶¶ 1-2. Customs liquidated the entries on August 10, 2012, assessing antidumping duties as instructed. Compl. ¶ 4; MSJ at 4.
Plaintiff timely protested the liquidations, claiming that the entries had liquidated by operation of law, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1504(b), at the cash deposit rates asserted upon entry. Compl. Exs. A, B. On October 9, 2013, Customs denied the protests, asserting that Plaintiff had confused suspending liquidation with extending liquidation in its arguments. Compl. Exs. C, D. Plaintiff filed suit on March 31, 2014, again averring that the entries had been deemed liquidated at their original cash deposit rates, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1504(b). Compl. The parties now cross-move for summary judgment. See generally MSJ; XMSJ.
The court will grant summary judgment only if "there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law" based on the "materials in the record." USCIT R. 56(a), (c)(1). The burden of establishing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact lies with the moving party. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-movant and may not weigh the evidence or resolve issues of fact. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (citation omitted). A genuine factual issue exists if, taking into account the burdens of production and proof that would be required at trial, sufficient evidence favors the non-movant such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict in that party's favor. Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505.
To defeat summary judgment once the moving party has met its burden, the nonmoving party may not simply rely on the pleadings, but must "`cit[e] to particular parts of materials in the record' to establish the `presence of a genuine dispute' warranting trial." Macclenny Prods. v. United States, 38 CIT ___, ___, 963 F.Supp.2d 1348, 1358 (2014) (brackets in original) (quoting USCIT R. 56(c)). "[I]f a party `fails to properly address another party's assertion of fact,' that assertion of
Defendant contends that Plaintiff's suit "rests on the incorrect presumption that its entries were never suspended and, as a result, the entries became deemed liquidated." MSJ at 9. Defendant argues that Plaintiff mistakenly applies 19 U.S.C. § 1504(b) to support its claim that Customs' "final assessment of additional duties violated [the statute] `as the rate of duty, value, quantity, and amount of duties should be no greater than the amount of the 2006 duties.'" MSJ at 9 (quoting Compl. ¶ 6). Defendant counters that 19 U.S.C. § 1504(b) establishes Customs' authority to extend the liquidation of an entry and is distinct from suspending liquidation. MSJ at 9-10. Defendant notes that Plaintiff's "theory of deemed liquidation appears to be premised on an assumption that [Customs] extended the liquidation of its entries, and that after four years from the date of entry, the purported extensions expired and the entries deemed liquidated by operation of section 1504(b)." Id.
Defendant asserts that, at the time of importation, the liquidation of the entries was suspended pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1673b(d)(2). Id. at 9-11. Defendant explains that once Commerce received a request for an administrative review, the suspension continued through the completion of the review, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1675(a)(2), and when Qingdao Taifa challenged the results of the administrative review before the court, liquidation was further suspended, pending resolution of the action, pursuant to the preliminary injunction issued by the Court. Id. at 11-12. Defendant concludes that after the resolution of the action, the preliminary injunction dissolved, and Customs timely and properly liquidated Plaintiff's entries at the new antidumping duty rate pursuant to the judgment of the court. See id. at 12-14.
Plaintiff requests that the Court "dismiss allegations seeking relief under 28 U.S.C. § 1581(i)." XMSJ at 2. Plaintiff also concedes that Customs never extended liquidation of the entries, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1504(b), but also asserts that there was no basis for suspending the liquidation of the entries. Id. at 3. Plaintiff contends that "in the absence of a court order, no valid basis existed for suspension of liquidation of its entries, as no statutory authority required suspension of liquidation of Plaintiff's entries, in light of the fact that a valid antidumping [duty] order was in effect at the time Plaintiff made those entries." Id. at 4. Plaintiff asserts that 19 U.S.C. § 1673b(d)(2) did not provide a basis for suspension because the statute permits suspension only after an administrative review has resulted in "an affirmative determination by an administrating authority that additional anti-dumping duties must be imposed before suspension of liquidation shall be ordered"
Liability to pay antidumping duties "accrues upon entry of subject merchandise" into the Customs territory of the United States. SSAB N. Am. Div. v. U.S. Bureau of Customs & Border Protection, 32 CIT 795, 797, 571 F.Supp.2d 1347, 1350 (2008) (citing 19 C.F.R. § 141.1(a)). While such liability accrues upon entry, the amount of actual liability may not be determined for some time after the entry occurs because the United States employs a `retrospective' duty assessment system. As Commerce explains in its regulations:
19 C.F.R. § 351.212(a).
The reference to the U.S. antidumping duty system as "retrospective" is a convenient summation of an otherwise complex and technical interaction of statutory provisions. Focusing only on the provisions related to the suspension of liquidation, as relevant to this case, the statutory suspension of liquidation begins with an affirmative preliminary determination by Commerce in an antidumping duty investigation. Specifically, 19 U.S.C. § 1673b(d)(2) provides that if a Commerce preliminary determination is affirmative, then Commerce "shall order the suspension of liquidation of all entries of merchandise subject to the determination which are entered [...] for consumption on or after [...] the date on which notice of the determination is published in the Federal Register."
While the antidumping duty order provides the on-going basis for the suspension of liquidation of imports of subject merchandise, the suspension of liquidation for any given entry is not indefinite. Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1673e(a), the antidumping duty to be assessed on that entry is based on the amount by which normal value exceeds the export price, as determined by Commerce. That determination is made pursuant to section 1675.
Section 1675 provides that, on an annual basis, Commerce may conduct a review to determine the amount of any antidumping duty (referred to as an administrative review or a periodic review).
The publication of the final results of the administrative review provides the notice to Customs of the lifting of the suspension of liquidation. Int'l Trading Co., v. United States, 281 F.3d 1268, 1275 (Fed.Cir.2002). Customs then has six months to liquidate the entries covered by the results of the
If the final results of the periodic review are challenged at the Court of International Trade, a party may request that the court enjoin the liquidation pending the completion of court review.
The parties do not dispute any of the material facts. The sole question before the Court, therefore, is whether the liquidation of Plaintiff's entries was suspended until a date no less than six months prior to when Customs liquidated them on August 10, 2012, at an antidumping duty rate of 145.90 percent. The Court finds that the entries were properly suspended from the time of entry until the completion of the judicial review, first by operation of law pursuant to statute and then by court order pursuant to a preliminary injunction, "until the issuance of a final and conclusive court decision," less than six months prior to Customs' liquidation. MSJ Ex. C at 2.
On November 17, 2004, based on the 2004 AD Order, Commerce directed Customs to collect cash deposits of estimated antidumping duties on future imports of hand trucks manufactured by Qingdao Taifa at a rate of 26.49 percent, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. §§ 1673d(c)(1) and 1673e. When the subject merchandise entered the Customs territory of the United States on May 24 and June 14, 2006 those instructions remained in effect and the liquidation of the entries was automatically suspended. This suspension stayed in place until the anniversary month of the antidumping duty order.
As a result of the initiation of the second administrative review of the 2004 AD Order, the liquidation of Plaintiff's entries was further suspended by the combined provisions of 1673e(a) and 1675(a), as discussed supra, until the completion of the review in order to determine the final amount of duties for the second period of review. The cash deposits that Customs collected on the entries, at a rate of 26.49 percent, were estimated antidumping
After Commerce issued the final administrative review results, Qingdao Taifa timely brought suit to challenge the final results before this court. On August 22, 2008, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1516a(c)(2), Qingdao Taifa secured a preliminary injunction, which enjoined Customs from liquidating Plaintiff's entries, pending the resolution of that challenge. Qingdao Taifa Group Co., No. 08-245 (CIT Aug. 22, 2008) (order granting preliminary injunction).
Thus, from the moment of importation on May 24 and June 14, 2006, to the conclusion of the administrative review on July 28, 2008, liquidation of Plaintiff's entries was suspended by statute.
For the reasons above, the court grants Defendant's Motion to Dismiss and Motion for Summary Judgment, and denies Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment. Judgment will be entered for Defendant.