US court upholds Commerce decision on Turkish aluminium sheet exporter

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The US Court of International Trade has ruled in favour of the Commerce Department in a dispute involving Turkish aluminium sheet producer Assan, confirming that the company was not eligible for a duty drawback adjustment under an anti-dumping order.

The case relates to imports of common alloy aluminium sheet from Turkey and Commerce's review of whether Assan qualified for a reduction in its dumping margin through the duty drawback programme.

A duty drawback allows companies to recover duties paid on imported materials that are later exported or used in exported products.

According to the court, Assan submitted documents intended to support its eligibility claim after the deadline set by Commerce. As a result, the agency declined to include the information in its review.

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Judge Gary Katzmann agreed with Commerce's position, stating that the documents were submitted too late and did not qualify as a permissible response to information already placed on the record by other parties.

Without the additional documentation, Commerce concluded there was not enough evidence to show that Assan met the requirements for a duty drawback adjustment.

The agency therefore maintained a dumping duty rate of 2.14 per cent for the company.

The ruling supports Commerce's third remand determination in the case and leaves the agency's assessment unchanged.

The decision highlights the importance of meeting procedural deadlines in US trade cases, particularly when companies seek adjustments that could affect anti-dumping duty calculations.

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