India, Turkey Quartz Tariff Appeal Stopped
NEW YORK – An attempt to stop preliminary tariffs against quartz surfaces from India and Turkey ended late last month when a federal judge dismissed the action.
In two separate cases, Judge Leo M. Gordon of the U.S. Court of International Trade dismissed M S. International (MSI) Inc.’s request for legal relief on Jan. 30.
The ruling, however, didn’t affect another complaint filed by MSI to appeal last year’s tariffs set against Chinese quartz surfaces.
MSI sought an injunction against the India and Turkey tariffs offered under preliminary determination in unfair-trade petitions filed last year by Minnesota-based producer Cambria Company LLC. Among other arguments, MSI claimed that there wasn’t a proper amount of U.S.-based industry support for the tariff investigations, and that U.S. fabricators were excluded from being considered as “domestic producers.”
MSI also indicated that two other quartz-surface companies – Wilsonart and Pokarna Engineered Stone – would likely enter the case.
In his ruling, Gordon didn’t touch on any of MSI’s arguments, noting that the appeal was being made too soon.
With the India and Turkey cases, Gordon noted that the tariff review by the U.S. Commerce Department and, subsequently, the U.S International Trade Commission (USITC) is ongoing and hasn’t reached any final decisions. He dismissed MSI’s arguments that the current process is causing permanent damage to the company.
“Participating in an administrative proceeding, incurring the attendant litigation expense, and enduring the collateral consequences of such participation, business or otherwise, does not, and cannot, constitute irreparable harm,” the judge noted in his opinion. “Otherwise, every issue in every trade case would be eligible for piecemeal review.”
The ruling with the India and Turkey cases, however, didn’t affect MSI’s complaint before the Court of International Trade concerning Chinese quartz-surface tariffs.
The action, filed last September, claims that the Commerce Department erred in widening its definition of quartz surfaces to include certain types of crushed glass. It also repeated the argument on the exclusion of U.S. fabricators as domestic producers in the Chinese unfair-trade investigation.
Gordon is examining briefs submitted earlier this month by MSI and two intervenors in the case – Bruskin International LLC and Arizona Tile LLC – and will offer a review on March 9. If the case goes forward, the Commerce Department and Cambria will respond in May and June, respectively, with oral arguments to be set after July 30.
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