Baoding Mantong Fine Chem. Co. v. United States
2017 CIT 169
| Ct. Intl. Trade | 2017Background
- Baoding Mantong, sole respondent in the administrative review, challenged Commerce’s 453.79% weighted-average dumping margin for glycine from the PRC covering Mar. 1, 2010–Feb. 28, 2011; Commerce later recalculated margins on remand.
- Commerce initially used Indonesian GTA import data as surrogate values (Indonesia chosen as primary surrogate country) and calculated financial ratios from Indonesian urea producer data in the First Remand, reducing the margin to 64.97%.
- The court in Baoding Mantong II sustained Commerce’s financial-ratio selection and chlorine surrogate, but remanded steam coal, ammonia (identity and valuation), and formaldehyde surrogate determinations for further explanation or reevaluation.
- On second remand, Commerce: (1) replaced Indonesian steam-coal data with Thai GTA data ($0.05/kg); (2) issued a supplemental questionnaire and determined the ammonia input was anhydrous (not aqueous); (3) valued anhydrous ammonia using Thai GTA data ($0.45/kg); and (4) valued formaldehyde using Philippine GTA data ($0.27/kg).
- Commerce recorded some of these surrogate selections "under protest," asserting a preference to use a single surrogate country (Indonesia), but the court found the substantive selections supported by record evidence and sustained the Second Remand Redetermination, which produced a 0.00% dumping margin.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surrogate value for steam coal | Indonesian GTA data unreliable (very small volume; AUV disproportionately high) — use Thailand data | Commerce prefers single surrogate country (Indonesia) but on remand chose Thai data | Court sustained Commerce’s selection of Thai GTA data ($0.05/kg) as best available information |
| Identity of ammonia input (aqueous v. anhydrous) | Baoding Mantong: input is anhydrous (commercial certificates support this) | Commerce initially treated it as aqueous but on remand collected additional info | Court found Commerce’s post‑remand determination that the input is anhydrous supported by record evidence |
| Surrogate valuation for ammonia (anhydrous) | Use most representative GTA data (Plaintiff favored larger-volume data) | Commerce preferred Indonesian data but chose Thai GTA data on remand as more representative of broad market average | Court sustained Commerce’s selection of Thai GTA anhydrous ammonia data ($0.45/kg) as supported by substantial evidence |
| Surrogate value for formaldehyde | Philippine GTA data (largest quantity) better represents broad-market average than Indonesian data | Commerce prefers single surrogate country but used Philippine data on remand, citing broad-market criterion | Court sustained Commerce’s selection of Philippine GTA data ($0.27/kg) as best available information |
Key Cases Cited
- Baoding Mantong Fine Chemistry Co. v. United States, 113 F. Supp. 3d 1332 (Ct. Int’l Trade 2015) (first remand decision addressing surrogate-value and margin issues)
- Baoding Mantong Fine Chemistry Co. v. United States, 222 F. Supp. 3d 1231 (Ct. Int’l Trade 2017) (second remand opinion directing Commerce to reconsider surrogate values for steam coal, ammonia, and formaldehyde)