Boomerang Tube LLC v. United States, 2017 CIT 112

Commerce investigated antidumping on certain oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from Saudi Arabia and treated Jubail Energy Services Co. (JESCO) and affiliated exporter Duferco SA as a single respondent.
In the final determination Commerce found a de minimis dumping margin for the only investigated respondent and terminated the investigation without issuing an antidumping duty order.
U.S. producers (petitioners: U.S. Steel; Boomerang Tube LLC and others) challenged Commerce’s constructed value (CV) profit calculation, arguing Commerce improperly relied on JESCO/Duferco’s sales to an affiliated Colombian distributor to set CV profit and failed to use a "reasonable method" under 19 U.S.C. § 1677b(e)(2)(B).
The Court of International Trade (CIT) in Boomerang I rejected defendant’s exhaustion argument, concluded petitioners lacked a full and fair opportunity to challenge Commerce’s final CV-profit method, addressed the merits, and entered judgment for the United States.
The Federal Circuit in Boomerang II vacated the CIT’s opinion, holding the CIT abused its discretion by reaching the merits rather than dismissing the claims for failure to exhaust administrative remedies because the data were on the record before the preliminary determination.
Following the Federal Circuit’s mandate, the CIT entered judgment for the United States and denied the petitioners’ Rule 56.2 motions on exhaustion grounds.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether petitioners exhausted administrative remedies regarding Commerce’s use of JESCO/Duferco Colombia sales to calculate CV profit	Petitioners argued they lacked notice and a full and fair opportunity to challenge Commerce’s final use of the Colombia sales because Commerce did not use them in the preliminary determination	Government argued petitioners were on notice because the Colombia sales were on the record and JESCO proposed their use in its case brief	Held: Petitioners failed to exhaust; the Federal Circuit required dismissal on exhaustion grounds and the CIT entered judgment for the U.S.
Whether Commerce’s CV-profit calculation complied with statutory "reasonable method" requirements	Petitioners claimed Commerce impermissibly based CV profit on affiliated-party Colombia sales and thus did not use a reasonable method	Government defended Commerce’s methodology and urged exhaustion barred the claims	Held: CIT did not reach the merits after remand; the exhaustion ruling disposed of the challenge and judgment entered for the U.S.

Boomerang Tube LLC v. United States, 856 F.3d 908 (Fed. Cir. 2017) (vacating CIT opinion for failing to dismiss claims for lack of administrative exhaustion)
Boomerang Tube LLC v. United States, 125 F. Supp. 3d 1357 (Ct. Int'l Trade 2015) (CIT opinion addressing exhaustion and the merits of Commerce’s CV-profit methodology)