The Commerce Department today took authoritative action in response to evidence of duty evasion in its final results for the 6th review of the antidumping duty order on shrimp from China. Commerce had preliminarily determined that the antidumping duty order should be revoked with regard to the Chinese exporter for whom no duties were assessed. Thereafter, PKR on behalf of the petitioner brought newly-released evidence of duty evasion to Commerce’s attention. This evidence was drawn from an unrelated criminal prosecution of employees of the Chinese exporter’s U.S. affiliate for mislabeling of fish products.
In response, Commerce solicited information from the Chinese exporter as to the alleged illegal circumvention. The exporter refused to answer several of the inquiries. Commerce found that the exporter had made – and continued to make – material misrepresentations regarding the identity of its affiliates. Commerce subsequently re-evaluated its preliminary determination and declined to revoke the antidumping duty order as to the exporter. Using the “adverse facts available” statute, Commerce further assigned a final dumping margin of 112.81% to the exporter’s U.S. imports of subject merchandise between February 1, 2010 and January 31, 2011.
