United States Federal Circuit

In this case, the decision of the Court of International Trade upholding the Department of Commerce's imposition of both antidumping and countervailing duties is affirmed, where: 1) plaintiffs are importing goods from China, a non-market economy (NME) country; 2) the Department of Commerce acted pursuant to a new 2012 law (19 U.S.C. sections 1671 and 1677f-1) that authorizes the imposition of countervailing duties on imports from NME countries both prospectively and retroactively; 3) the new law rationally relates to the government's interest in retroactively remedying the damage from unfair foreign trade practices; 4) the new law is remedial, not punitive, and thus does not violate the Ex Post Facto Clause; 5) companies such as plaintiff GPX that operate in international trade can expect some retroactive liability, especially with respect to trade duties, as imports always occur with uncertainty as to the extent of final duties; and 6) the new law does not violate the Due Process Clause.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/13/2015
• Published 03/13/2015

Judges

• Dyk

Court

• United States Federal Circuit

Counsel