WASHINGTON — The United Steelworkers (USW) has filed a complaint with the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) seeking judicial review of the U.S. International Trade Commission's recent negative determination in the ITC's investigation of truck and bus tires from China.
The ITC's decision, disclosed Feb. 22, meant that the U.S. opted to not impose antidumping and/or countervailing duties on truck/bus tires imported from China, reversing a preliminary determination the ITC had reached earlier.
In its complaint with the U.S. CIT, the USW asks the court to overturn the ITC's decision on the basis that it "is unsupported by substantial evidence and otherwise not in accordance with law, and remand the (ITC's) final determination with instructions to issue a new determination that is consistent with the court's decision."
The USW "further requests that the court provide such other relief as is just and proper."
The union said in its complaint that it intends to "request expedited briefing in this matter in order to obtain a prompt resolution of this case." The filing is considered a civil court action,
The ITC in March 2016 had made a preliminary determination of material injury against the U.S. commercial tire industry, which resulted in the Commerce Department's issuing final antidumping duties in late January against Chinese tire makers ranging from 9 to 22.57 percent and countervailing duties ranging from 38.61 to 65.46 percent.
In its complaint with the U.S. CIT, the USW raised a number of issues it feels were ignored or otherwise misconstrued by the commissioners in making their decision.
Among them:
- The Commission majority did not address, or otherwise ignored, evidence that contradicted its conclusions, and therefore its findings are "are unsupported by substantial evidence and are otherwise not in accordance with the law."
- The Commission's majority opinion that Chinese imports "did not cause significant adverse price effects is unsupported by substantial evidence and is otherwise not in accordance with the law."
- The Commission failed to "adequately explain how its conclusions regarding the operations and performance of the domestic industry complied with the statutory prohibition on reaching a negative material injury determination merely because the domestic industry is profitable or because the performance of that industry has recently improved."
According to the court's website, the U.S. CIT's judicial power is exercised by a single judge to whom the case is assigned by the chief judge. Appeals from final decisions of the court may be taken to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and, ultimately, to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The court has its own rules prescribing the practices and procedures, patterned after and follow the arrangement and numbering used in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.