OT:RR:CTF:EPDR H301929 IPW
Center Director Consumer Products and Mass Merchandising
1699 Phoenix Parkway, Suite 400
College Park, GA 30349 Attn.: Craig Thompson, Supervisory Import Specialist
RE: Protest No. 2809-18-100088; liquidation; wooden bedroom furniture
Dear Center Director,
This letter is in response to the application for further review of protest 2809-18-100088, filed by Aspects Furniture International, Inc., (“Aspects” or “protestant”) against the liquidation of two entries of wooden bedroom furniture from the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) with assessment of antidumping duties at the PRC-wide rate.
FACTS:
According to Aspects, it entered the furniture in February and July 2014 as subject to antidumping case A-570-890, Wooden Bedroom Furniture from the PRC and deposited antidumping duties (“ADD”) at the rate for Shanghai Jian Pu Import & Export Co. Ltd., (“Shanghai Jian Pu”), the exporter. Subsequently, the Department of Commerce (DOC) determined that Shanghai Jian Pu did not “establish their eligibility for separate rate status and would be treated as part of the PRC wide entity.” See Wooden Bedroom Furniture from the People’s Republic of China: Final Results and Final Determination of No Shipments, In Part: 2014 Administrative Review, 81 Fed Reg. 21,319 (April 11, 2016). This DOC decision was challenged in the Court of International Trade (“CIT”) and liquidation of the relevant entries was enjoined. The DOC issued message 6123302 on May 2, 2016, which stated in pertinent part:
1. On 04/27/2016, the U.S. Court of International Trade issued a preliminary injunction (PI) enjoining liquidation of entries identified in paragraph 2 which are subject to the antidumping duty order on wooden bedroom furniture from the PRC (A-570-890) for the period 01/01/2014 through 12/31/2014. This PI was issued in connection with court number 16-00070.
2. This PI enjoins liquidation of entries of wooden bedroom furniture from the PRC that: 1) were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption during the period January 1, 2014, through December 31, 2014, inclusive; (2) are subject to the antidumping administrative review, the final results of which were published as Wooden Bedroom Furniture From the People's Republic of China: Final Results and Final Determination of No Shipments, In Part: 2014 Administrative Review, 81 Fed. Reg. 21319 (Dep't of Commerce April 11 2016);
(3) were exported from the PRC to the United States by Shanghai Jian Pu Import & Export Co., Ltd.; and (4) remain unliquidated as of 5 p.m. on 04/27/2016.
3. Effective 04/27/2016 (the date the Court issued the PI), no liquidation may be made for entries referred to in paragraph 2 which remain unliquidated as of 5 p.m. on 04/27/2016. Any such entries that are set for liquidation must be unset immediately. Continue to suspend liquidation of these entries until liquidation instructions are issued.
The CIT dismissed the suit brought by the American Furniture Manufacturers Committee for Legal Trade (AFMC) on March 13, 2017. On May 12, 2017, the dismissal of the AFMC litigation became final. The DOC issued message 7150306 on May 30, 2017, which stated in pertinent part:
1. On 03/13/2017, the U.S. Court of International Trade issued a final decision in the case of American Furniture Manufacturers Committee for Legal Trade and Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Company, Inc. v. United States (16-00070). As a result of this decision, the injunction to which message 6123302 refers enjoining liquidation of entries which are subject to the antidumping duty order on wooden bedroom furniture from the Peoples Republic of China for the period 01/01/2014 through 12/31/2014 exported by Shanghai Jian Pu Import & Export Co., Ltd. dissolved on 05/12/2017.
2. For all shipments of wooden bedroom furniture from the People's Republic of China exported by Shanghai Jian Pu Import & Export Co., Ltd. (A-570-890-122) and entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption during the period 01/01/2014 through 12/31/2014, assess an antidumping liability equal to the percentage listed below of the entered value:
Final rate: 216.01%.
3. These instructions constitute notice of the lifting of suspension of liquidation of entries of subject merchandise covered by paragraph 2. Accordingly, notice of the lifting of suspension occurred on the message date of these instructions. Unless instructed otherwise, for all other shipments of wooden bedroom furniture from the People’s Republic of China you shall continue to collect cash deposits of estimated antidumping duties for the merchandise at the current rates.
The entries were liquidated by CBP on November 24, 2017, at the PRC-wide rate.
The protest was filed on April 6, 2018. The protestant states that the injunction that enjoined the liquidation for the protested entries was dissolved on May 12, 2017 per CBP message 7150306. The protestant argues that the liquidation on November 24, 2017, was therefore more than six months after the injunction dissolved and more than six months after CBP received notice that the injunction was dissolved.
ISSUE:
Whether the protested entries were properly liquidated on November 24, 2017, or were deemed liquidated by operation of law per 19 U.S.C. § 1504.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
As an initial matter, we find that this protest meets the criteria for further review. Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1514(a)(2), a protestable issue was raised by claiming that CBP erred as to the “amount of duties chargeable” upon liquidation of the entry at issue.
We note that the instant protest was timely filed. Pursuant to § 1514(c)(3)(A), a party must file a protest within 180 days of the date of liquidation. CBP liquidated the entries on November 24, 2017. Aspects filed this protest on April 6, 2018, which is within the 180-day deadline.
Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1504, entries not liquidated within one year of the date of entry will be deemed liquidated “unless suspended as required by statute or court order.” Once suspension of an entry is removed, either by court order or instructions from Commerce, the entry is deemed liquidated if CBP fails to liquidate “within 6 months after receiving notice of the removal.” In this case, liquidation of the protested entries was enjoined by the CIT. See DOC message 6123302. On March 13, 2017, the CIT dismissed the case for a lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The dismissal became final on May 13, 2017, and therefore was the date when the injunction was legally dissolved. See Aspects Furniture Int'l, Inc. v. United States, 42 F.4th 1366, 1368 (Fed. Cir. 2022); DOC message 7150306. The entries in this case are related to the entries in Aspects Furniture Int’l, Inc, 42 F.4th 1366, which were covered by the same period of review, liquidation instructions, and injunction. The court in that case held that while the injunction was dissolved on May 12, 2017, CBP did not receive unambiguous notice of the removal of the suspension of liquidation until DOC’s message 7150306 on May 30, 2017. Accordingly, CBP had until November 30, 2017 to liquidate the entries, not November 12, 2017, as the protestant argues. The entries were liquidated on November 24, 2017 and therefore, liquidated timely.
HOLDING:
The protested entries were properly liquidated under 19 U.S.C. § 1504. Therefore, the protest is DENIED in full.
You are instructed to notify the Protestant of this decision no later than 60 days from the date of this decision. Any reliquidation of the entry or entries in accordance with the decision must be accomplished prior to this notification. Sixty days from the date of the decision, the Office of Trade, Regulations and Rulings will make the decision available to CBP personnel and the public on the Customs Rulings Online Search System (“CROSS”) at https://rulings.cbp.gov/, or other methods of public distribution.
Sincerely,
For Yuliya A. Gulis, Director
Commercial & Trade Facilitation Division