Slip Op. 23-127

UNITED STATES COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE 

YAMA RIBBONS AND BOWS CO., LTD., 

 Plaintiff, 

 v. 

UNITED STATES, 

 Defendant. 

Before: Timothy C. Stanceu, Judge 

Court No. 21-00402

OPINION AND ORDER 

[Ordering remand of an agency determination in a countervailing duty 

proceeding on certain woven ribbons from the People’s Republic of China] 

Dated: August 25, 2023 

John J. Kenkel, deKieffer & Horgan, PLLC, of Washington, D.C., for plaintiff Yama 

Ribbons and Bows Co., Ltd. With him on the briefs was Judith L. Holdsworth. 

Kara M. Westercamp, Trial Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil 

Division, Department of Justice, of Washington, D.C., for defendant United States. 

With her on the brief were Brian M. Boynton, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney 

General, and Patricia M. McCarthy, Director. Of counsel on the brief is Leslie M. Lewis, 

Attorney, Office of the Chief Counsel for Trade Enforcement & Compliance, U.S. 

Department of Commerce. 

Stanceu, Judge: Plaintiff Yama Ribbons and Bows Co., Ltd. (“Yama”) contests an 

administrative determination of the International Trade Administration, U.S. 

Department of Commerce (“Commerce” or the “Department”) concluding the eighth 

periodic administrative review of a countervailing duty (“CVD”) order on certain 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 2 

woven ribbons from the People’s Republic of China (“China” or the “PRC”). Finding 

merit in one of the claims plaintiff raised in contesting the Final Results, the court 

remands the Final Results to Commerce for reconsideration in accordance with this 

Opinion and Order. On other claims, the court allows supplementation of the 

administrative record in response to a request of defendant. 

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Contested Determination 

The contested determination (the “Final Results”) was published as Narrow 

Woven Ribbons With Woven Selvedge From the People’s Republic of China: Final Results of 

Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2018, 86 Fed. Reg. 40,462 (Int’l Trade Admin. 

July 28, 2021) (“Final Results”). 

B. Proceedings before Commerce 

On September 1, 2010, Commerce issued a countervailing duty order (the 

“Order”) on narrow woven ribbons with woven selvedge from China (the “subject 

merchandise”). Narrow Woven Ribbons With Woven Selvedge From the People’s Republic of 

China: Countervailing Duty Order, 75 Fed. Reg. 53,642 (Int’l Trade Admin.) (“Order”).1 

1

 The subject merchandise is defined generally in the countervailing duty order

as woven ribbons twelve centimeters or less in width, and of any length, that are 

composed in whole or in part of man-made fibers and that have woven selvedge. Some 

exclusions apply. Narrow Woven Ribbons With Woven Selvedge From the People’s Republic 

(continued. . . .) 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 3 

In November 2019, Commerce published a notice of initiation of the eighth 

administrative review of the Order (“eighth review”), which pertained to a period of 

review (“POR”) of January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018. Initiation of Antidumping and 

Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews, 84 Fed. Reg. 61,011, 61,016 (Int’l Trade 

Admin. Nov. 12, 2019). 

Commerce published the preliminary results of the eighth review (“Preliminary 

Results”) in early 2021, preliminarily determining for Yama, the sole reviewed 

respondent, a total net CVD subsidy rate of 42.20%. Narrow Woven Ribbons With Woven 

Selvedge From the People’s Republic of China: Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty 

Administrative Review; 2018, 86 Fed. Reg. 7,264, 7,265 (Int’l Trade Admin. Jan. 27, 2021) 

(“Preliminary Results”). Commerce incorporated an explanatory document. Decision 

Memorandum for Preliminary Results of 2018 Countervailing Duty Administrative Review: 

Narrow Woven Ribbons with Woven Selvedge from the People’s Republic of China (Int’l Trade 

Admin. Jan. 19, 2021), P.R. Doc. 162 (“Prelim. Decision Mem.”).2

of China: Countervailing Duty Order, 75 Fed. Reg. 53,642, 53,642–43 (Int’l Trade Admin. 

Sept. 1, 2010). The term “selvedge” refers to “the edge on either side of a woven or 

flat-knitted fabric so finished as to prevent raveling.” Selvage or selvedge, WEBSTER’S 

THIRD NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY UNABRIDGED (2002). 

2 Documents in the Joint Appendix (June 17, 2022), ECF Nos. 42 (Conf.), 43 

(Public) are cited herein as “P.R. Doc. __.” All citations to record documents are to the 

public versions of those documents. 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 4 

In the Final Results, Commerce determined a final total net CVD subsidy rate of 

42.20% for Yama. Final Results, 86 Fed. Reg. at 40,462. Commerce incorporated by 

reference an explanatory memorandum, the “Final Issues and Decision Memorandum.” 

Issues and Decision Memorandum for the Final Results of 2018 Countervailing Duty 

Administrative Review: Narrow Woven Ribbons with Woven Selvedge from the People’s 

Republic of China (Int’l Trade Admin. July 22, 2021), P.R. Doc. 174 (“Final I&D Mem.”). 

Commerce calculated the 42.20% rate by adding individual “program rates” for what it 

considered to be countervailable subsidies arising from 24 government programs. Id. 

at 3–5. 

In this action, Yama contests the Department’s inclusion of the following three 

subsidy rates in the 42.20% total subsidy rate: a rate of 10.54% for the Export Buyer’s 

Credit Program (“EBC Program” or “EBCP”), which is an export-promoting loan 

program administered by the Export Import Bank of China; a rate of 27.74% for the 

provision of synthetic yarn for less than adequate remuneration (“LTAR”); and a rate of 

0.27% for the provision of caustic soda for LTAR. 

C. Proceedings in the Court of International Trade 

Yama commenced this action in August 2021. Summons (Aug. 12, 2021), 

ECF No. 1; Compl. (Aug. 12, 2021), ECF No. 7. Before the court is Yama’s motion for 

judgment on the agency record under USCIT Rule 56.2 and accompanying brief. 

Pl. Yama Ribbons and Bows Co., Ltd.’s Rule 56.2 Mot. for J. Upon the Agency R. (Feb. 4, 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 5 

2022), ECF Nos. 27 (Conf.), 28 (Public); Mem. of Law in Supp. of Pl. Yama Ribbons and 

Bows Co., Ltd’s 56.2 Mot. for J. Upon the Agency R. (Feb. 4, 2022), ECF No. 27-1 (Conf.), 

28-1 (Public) (“Pl.’s Br.”). 

Defendant United States opposes Yama’s motion for judgment on the agency 

record. Def.’s Resp. to Pl.’s Rule 56.2 Mot. for J. Upon the Agency R. (Apr. 22, 2022), 

ECF No. 37 (“Def.’s Br.”). Plaintiff replied to defendant’s submission. Pl. Yama 

Ribbons and Bows Co., Ltd.’s Reply to Def.’s Opp’n to Pl.’s Rule 56.2 Mot. for J. Upon 

the Agency R. (June 3, 2022), ECF No. 41 (“Pl.’s Reply”). 

II. DISCUSSION

A. Jurisdiction and Standard of Review 

The court exercises jurisdiction over this action according to section 201 of the 

Customs Courts Act of 1980, 28 U.S.C. § 1581(c), which grants this Court subject matter 

jurisdiction of actions commenced under section 516A of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 

amended (the “Tariff Act”), 19 U.S.C. § 1516a, including actions contesting a final 

determination that Commerce issues to conclude an administrative review of a 

countervailing duty order. Id. § 1516a(a)(2)(B)(iii).3

In reviewing a final determination, the court “shall hold unlawful any 

determination, finding, or conclusion found . . . to be unsupported by substantial 

3

 All citations to the United States Code herein are to the 2018 edition. 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 6 

evidence on the record, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” Id. § 1516a(b)(1). 

Substantial evidence refers to “such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might 

accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” SKF USA, Inc. v. United States, 537 F.3d 

1373, 1378 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (quoting Consol. Edison Co. v. NLRB, 305 U.S. 197, 229 (1938)). 

B. Countervailing Duties under the Tariff Act 

When certain conditions are met, the Tariff Act provides for a “countervailing 

duty” to be assessed on imported merchandise to redress the effect of a subsidy 

provided by the government of the exporting country. Section 701(a) of the Tariff Act, 

19 U.S.C. § 1671(a), provides for imposition of a countervailing duty if: (1) Commerce 

determines that an “authority,” defined as either the government of a country or any 

public entity within the territory of the country, id. § 1677(5)(B), “is providing, directly 

or indirectly, a countervailable subsidy with respect to the manufacture, production, or 

export of a class or kind of merchandise imported, or sold (or likely to be sold) for 

importation, into the United States”; and (2) the U.S. International Trade Commission 

determines that an industry in the United States is materially injured or threatened with 

material injury by reason of the subsidized imports. 

A “countervailable subsidy” exists, generally, where an authority provides a 

financial contribution to a person and a benefit is thereby conferred, and the subsidy 

meets the requirement of “specificity,” as determined according to various rules set 

forth in the statute. Id. §§ 1677(5), (5A). When subsidies consist of the provision of 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 7 

goods or services rather than the provision of monies directly, a benefit is conferred if 

those goods or services are provided for less than adequate remuneration. Id.

§ 1677(5)(E)(iv). 

C. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences when the Exporting 

Country Government Fails to Cooperate in a CVD Proceeding 

In the Final Results, Commerce invoked its authority to use “the facts otherwise 

available” under section 776(a) of the Tariff Act, 19 U.S.C. § 1677e(a), and “adverse 

inferences” under section 776(b) of the Tariff Act, 19 U.S.C. § 1677e(b), with respect to 

the EBCP and the provision of synthetic yarn and caustic soda. When using both the 

“facts otherwise available” and the “adverse inference” provisions, Commerce 

describes its action by using the term “adverse facts available” (“AFA”). 

Commerce may resort to the use of the facts otherwise available when, for 

example, “an interested party or any other person” withholds requested information, 

19 U.S.C. § 1677e(a)(2)(A), or “significantly impedes a proceeding,” id. § 1677e(a)(2)(C). 

Commerce also may use the facts otherwise available if Commerce finds that an 

interested party provides requested information “but the information cannot be verified 

as provided in section 1677m(i) of this title [19 U.S.C. § 1677m(i)].” Id. § 1677e(a)(2)(D). 

If Commerce finds that “an interested party has failed to cooperate by not acting 

to the best of its ability to comply” with a request for information, Commerce “may use 

an inference that is adverse to the interests of that party in selecting from among the 

facts otherwise available.” Id. § 1677e(b)(1)(A). 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 8 

In some circumstances arising in a countervailing duty investigation or review, 

Commerce may use an inference adverse to the interests of a party in the proceeding in 

the event of non-cooperation by the government of the exporting country in responding 

to the Department’s requests for information, even if the result is a collateral adverse 

effect upon a fully cooperative party. See Fine Furniture (Shanghai) Ltd. v. United States, 

748 F.3d 1365, 1373 (Fed. Cir. 2014); see also Changzhou Trina Solar Energy Co. v. United 

States, 42 CIT __, __, 352 F. Supp. 3d 1316, 1325 (2018) (quoting Archer Daniels Midland 

Co. v. United States, 37 CIT 760, 769, 917 F. Supp. 2d 1331, 1342 (2013)) (“Commerce may 

apply AFA even if the collateral effect is to ‘adversely impact a cooperating party.’”). 

But in such circumstances, Commerce should “seek to avoid such impact if relevant 

information exists elsewhere on the record.” Changzhou Trina, 42 CIT at __, 352 

F. Supp. 3d at 1325 (citation omitted). 

Commerce did not find that Yama withheld any information or failed to 

cooperate in responding to the Department’s information requests. Commerce, instead, 

based its use of the facts otherwise available and adverse inferences entirely on its 

findings of non-responsiveness and non-cooperation on the part of the government of 

China (the “GOC”). 

D. The Export Buyer’s Credit Program 

Commerce found that the Export Buyer’s Credit Program provides medium and 

long-term loans at preferential, low interest rates. Final I&D Mem. at 30. The program 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 9 

is administered by a government entity, the Export Import Bank of China (the “EX-IM 

Bank”). See id. at 35. 

Commerce did not find from record evidence that Yama participated in the 

EBCP, and the only record evidence relevant to that issue supports a finding that Yama 

did not do so. Had one or more of Yama’s customers received preferential loans under 

the EBCP and used the proceeds to purchase Yama’s subject merchandise during the 

POR, a benefit indirectly would have been “conferred” upon Yama. But in this case, 

Commerce did not find as a fact that any Yama customer actually received a loan under 

the program. Here again, the record lacked evidence that such an event occurred 

during the POR and contained record evidence that it did not. 

Commerce began its analysis by stating a negative finding, as follows: 

“Consistent with the Preliminary Results and Commerce’s practice, we continue to find 

that the record of the instant review does not support a finding of non-use regarding 

the EBC program for Yama.” Final I&D Mem. at 30 (footnote omitted). This is not an 

affirmative finding under 19 U.S.C. § 1677(5) that Yama was conferred a “benefit” as a 

result of participation in the EBCP by one or more of its customers. Instead, it is a 

“double negative,” i.e., a conclusion that the record does not support a “finding” that 

Yama did not benefit from the EBCP. 

Nevertheless, defendant argues that “Commerce’s determination that Yama used 

the EBC program, and its selection of an adverse rate for that program, are supported 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 10 

by substantial evidence and otherwise in accordance with law.” Def.’s Br. 11. Because 

Commerce did not actually “determine” from record evidence (substantial or 

otherwise) that Yama used the EBC program, defendant’s argument misstates what 

Commerce actually decided. 

Applying 19 U.S.C. § 1677e(a), Commerce found that “the GOC withheld 

necessary information that was requested of it.” Final I&D Mem. at 42. It concluded 

from this finding that the withholding of information “resulted in necessary 

information not being available on the record of this review” and that “the GOC 

significantly impeded the proceeding.” Id. Referring to record information submitted 

by Yama and some of its customers to demonstrate that no customer of Yama used the 

EBCP, Commerce found that information about the operation of the EBCP it considered 

to be necessary but missing from the record “prevents complete and effective 

verification of the customers’ certifications of non-use.” Id. at 41. 

Commerce concluded, further, that “an adverse inference is warranted in the 

application of facts available, pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act [19 U.S.C. § 1677e(b)] 

because the GOC did not act to the best of its ability in providing the necessary 

information to Commerce.” Id. at 42. As adverse inferences, Commerce asserted that 

“we continue to find this program provides a financial contribution, is specific, and 

provides a benefit to Yama within the meaning of sections 771(5)(D), 771(5A), and 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 11 

771(5)(E) of the Act, respectively [19 U.S.C. §§ 1677(5)(D), (5A), and (5)(E), 

respectively].” Id. 

In some situations, the serious and pervasive nature of the non-cooperation of 

the exporting government may prevent any meaningful inquiry by Commerce and 

justifies an adverse inference against a cooperative party. For example, in Yama Ribbons 

& Bows Co., Ltd. v. United States, 46 CIT __, 611 F. Supp. 3d 1394 (2022), this Court 

sustained an adverse inference that Yama benefited upon the government of China’s 

inadequately responding to the Department’s questionnaire by providing, essentially, 

nothing beyond a copy of the GOC’s questionnaire response for the previous review, 

which was unresponsive to the Department’s request. 

This case presents a different situation. Here, the Chinese government provided 

requested information that pertained specifically to the operation of the EBCP in the 

eighth review and explained the basis for its response to Commerce that neither Yama 

nor its customers were EBCP participants. Although Commerce permissibly found that 

the GOC failed to provide certain requested information about the EBCP, the essential 

finding Commerce drew from that failure, which was that the lack of the requested 

information prevented it either from determining, or from verifying, that Yama did not 

benefit from the EBCP, was unsupported by substantial evidence on the record. 

As the court noted previously, Commerce in some circumstances may use an 

inference adverse to a cooperative party when the exporting government fails to act to 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 12 

the best of its ability to respond to information requests but should “seek to avoid such 

impact if relevant information exists elsewhere on the record.” Changzhou Trina, 42 CIT 

at __, 352 F. Supp. 3d at 1325 (citation omitted). Commerce did not adhere to this 

principle in inferring, adversely, that Yama benefited from the EBCP. 

1. Record Evidence that Yama Did Not Benefit from the EBCP 

In response to a request in the Department’s initial questionnaire, Yama 

provided Commerce, as Exhibit 13 to its response to the Department’s initial 

questionnaire, a “list of U.S. customers to which Yama exported during the POR,” along 

with their shipment addresses. Narrow Woven Ribbons With Woven Selvedge from People’s 

Republic of China, Antidumping Duty: Response to Section III Questionnaire at 18 and Ex. 13 

(Jan. 10, 2020), P.R. Doc. 40 (“Yama Initial Questionnaire Resp.”) (list of customers and 

addresses). The list contained the names of a large number of U.S. retailers. In 

response to the Department’s directive that Yama “discuss in detail the role your 

company plays in assisting your customers in obtaining buyer credits” under the EBCP, 

Yama stated that it “did not provide any assistance to its customers in obtaining buyer 

credits.” Id. at 18. Yama further stated that it “contacted all of its U.S. customers listed 

in Exhibit 13 and confirmed that no customer obtained buyer credits from China Ex-IM 

Bank during the POR.” Id. at 19. Yama added that, in response to a request it sent to all 

customers, “certain U.S. customers provided written declaration certifying that they did 

not use buyer credits from Ex-IM Bank during the POR.” Id. Yama submitted for the 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 13 

record the customer certifications it received from approximately 28% of the customers 

on its customer list. Id. at Exs. 14-1 and 14-2. 

The Chinese government made statements paralleling those of Yama. Narrow 

Woven Ribbons with Woven Selvedge from the People’s Republic of China, Case No. C-570-953: 

Initial Questionnaire Response at 34 (Jan. 10, 2020), P.R. Doc. 17–39 (“GOC Initial 

Questionnaire Resp.”) (“The GOC determined that none of the customers of Yama used 

this program through a process in which Yama provided its customer list to the GOC. 

The EX-IM Bank then searched its records to confirm that these customers did not 

receive credits under the Export Buyer’s Credit program.”). 

Other record evidence further detracts from a conclusion that Yama benefited 

from the EBCP. The “Administrative Measures of Export Buyer’s Credit of EBCP,” 

provided in original and translated form as Exhibit D-2 to the GOC’s response to the 

Department’s Initial Questionnaire and Exhibit D-4 to the GOC’s response to the 

Department’s First Supplemental Questionnaire (the “Administrative Measures”), 

states in Article 3: “Except for the government special approval, export buyer’s credit is 

mainly used for supporting the export of capital goods, (such as Chinese 

electromechanical products, complete sets of large scale equipment) and High-tech 

products and services.” GOC Initial Questionnaire Resp. at Ex. D-2 and Narrow Woven 

Ribbons with Woven Selvedge from the People’s Republic of China, Case No. C-570-953: First 

Supplemental Questionnaire Response at Ex. D-4 (Apr. 17, 2020), P.R. Doc. 140 (“GOC First 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 14 

Suppl. Questionnaire Resp.”) (“Administrative Measures”). Although not precluding the 

possibility that woven ribbon exports would receive an EBCP benefit, Article 3 indicates 

that exports such as Yama’s are not the focus of the program. The same document 

provides evidence that the providing of credits under the EBCP, which is intended to 

promote exports, does not occur without the participation of the exporter. Id. at 

Article 4.

2. The Government of China’s Responses to the Department’s Initial and First 

Supplemental Questionnaires 

The record does not contain evidence that the GOC failed to respond to any 

requests for information or documentation about the EBCP in its response to the Initial 

Questionnaire. The questionnaire contained seven questions the GOC was required to 

answer “regarding Export Buyer’s Credits provided to all U.S. customers of the 

mandatory company respondents [sic] (including all responding crossowned affiliated 

companies) during the POR.” GOC Initial Questionnaire Resp. at 32. Commerce wrote 

the questionnaire so as to direct the GOC to skip the seven questions unless the GOC 

was reporting that EBCP credits were provided to customers of Yama (the sole 

“mandatory company respondent”). The GOC reported that none of Yama’s U.S. 

customers used the EBCP, and hence the questions were not applicable. The GOC 

responded “Not applicable” to four of the questions but responded voluntarily to the 

other three questions and attached documents identified in two of them. 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 15 

The GOC’s response to the First Supplemental Questionnaire contains evidence 

to support the Department’s finding that the GOC failed to cooperate by not acting to 

the best of its ability to respond to certain of the Department’s requests for information. 

In response to the request for “the 2013 revisions to the Administrative Measures of 

Export Buyer’s Credits of the Ex-Im Bank of China,” the GOC responded that “[t]he 

GOC does not maintain the requested document, as the Export Buyer’s Credit Program 

is a commercial, financial product offered by the bank.” GOC First Suppl. Questionnaire 

Resp. at 20. The answer provided by the GOC, read literally, is nonsensical. If 

interpreted to mean that only banks, and not a government entity (such as the EX-IM 

Bank) maintain the document, the GOC’s answer begs the question of why the 

government, the apparent originator of the document, could not locate a copy 

anywhere. 

In the First Supplemental Questionnaire, Commerce also requested “a list of all 

partner/correspondent banks involved in disbursement of funds under the Export 

Buyer’s Credit Program,” to which the GOC responded that “[s]ince none of the 

customers of the mandatory respondent obtained Export Buyer’s Credits during the 

POR, the GOC understands that this question is not applicable.” Id. The GOC’s 

“understanding” was correct as to the Department’s request for this list in the Initial 

Questionnaire but was incorrect as to the same request in the First Supplemental 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 16 

Questionnaire. The second iteration of the request was not specific to Yama or its 

customers. 

3. The Department’s Invalid Finding that It Requested Information It Considered 

Essential to Its Verifying the “Non-Use” of the EBCP by Yama’s Customers 

Commerce permissibly found inadequate the GOC’s responses to the request for 

the 2013 revisions to the Administrative Measures and the list of what it termed 

“partner/correspondent banks.” Commerce also found, but impermissibly, that the 

GOC failed to provide certain other requested information that it considered essential to 

its verifying the “non-use” of the EBCP by Yama’s customers. As shown by the 

questionnaires it sent to the GOC, Commerce did not request that other information but 

proceeded as if it had. 

Commerce found that “the GOC’s refusal to provide the 2013 revisions, as well as 

other requested information, such as key information and documentation pertaining to the 

application and approval process, and partner/correspondent banks, impeded Commerce’s 

ability to conduct its investigation of this program and to verify the claims of non-use 

by Yama’s customers.” Final I&D Mem. at 37 (emphasis added). The GOC provided 

“information and documentation pertaining to the application and approval process” 

when it submitted the Administrative Measures and the “Detailed Implementation 

Rules Governing Export Buyer’s Credit of the Export-Import Bank of China,” (the 

“EBCP Implementation Rules”), which the GOC provided, in original and translated 

form, as Exhibit D-3 to its response to the Initial Questionnaire and as Exhibit D-5 to its 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 17 

response to the First Supplemental Questionnaire. GOC Initial Questionnaire Resp. at Ex. 

D-3 and GOC Suppl. Questionnaire Resp. at Ex. D-5 (“EBCP Implementation Rules”). 

Commerce found, further, that even had the GOC provided the “list of 

correspondent banks,” it still could not determine whether loans obtained by a U.S. 

customer of Yama were “loans originating from, facilitated by, or guaranteed by the 

China EX-IM Bank.” Final I&D Mem. at 38. Commerce reached this finding even 

though it made no attempt to conduct a verification by examining the record of bank 

loans of any U.S. customer of Yama, concluding that it would have been futile to do so. 

Id. at 39. Commerce stated that in order to differentiate ordinary bank loans, such as a 

loan from the private bank HSBC, from government-benefited loans under the EBCP: 

Commerce would need to know what underlying documentation to look for 

in order to determine whether particular subledger entries for HSBC might 

actually be China EX-IM Bank financing: specific applications, 

correspondence, abbreviations, account numbers, or other indicia of China 

EX-IM Bank involvement. As explained above, the GOC failed to provide 

Commerce with any of this information. 

Id. at 38–39. The reference “[a]s explained above” apparently pertains to the allegation 

of “the GOC’s failure to provide other requested information, such as a sample 

application, and other documents making up the ‘paper trail’ of a direct or indirect 

export credit from the China EX-IM Bank, discussed above.” Id. at 38. The Initial 

Questionnaire requested that the GOC submit “a sample buyer’s credit application 

along with the application’s approval and the agreement between the respondent’s 

customer and the bank, which establish the terms of the assistance provided under the 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 18 

facility,” but this request was one of the seven requests applicable only if the GOC was 

reporting that Export Buyer’s Credits were provided to U.S. customers of the 

mandatory respondent. GOC Initial Questionnaire Resp. at 33. As noted above, that 

request was inapplicable, the GOC, like Yama, having reported that no U.S. customer of 

Yama was provided an Export Buyer’s Credit. 

Commerce did not repeat in its First Supplemental Questionnaire its request for 

“a sample buyer’s credit application along with the application’s approval and the 

agreement between the respondent’s customer and the bank, which establish the terms 

of the assistance provided under the facility.” Other than the inapplicable request in the 

Initial Questionnaire, the questionnaires Commerce relies upon made no request for 

documents comprising a “paper trail” and do not request “specific applications, 

correspondence, abbreviations, account numbers, or other indicia of China EX-IM Bank 

involvement.” In short, Commerce concluded that it could not verify the “non-use” of 

the EBCP by Yama’s customers because it lacked this additional, unrequested 

information. As a result, the Department’s decision to infer adversely a benefit to Yama 

from the EBCP was critically flawed, Commerce having based that adverse inference on 

its reliance on “missing” information from the GOC that it never requested. According 

to the record evidence, the information Commerce requested of the GOC but did not 

receive was limited to the list of correspondent banks and the 2013 revisions to the 

Administrative Measures. 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 19 

In defense of the Department’s drawing an adverse inference that Yama 

benefited from the EBCP, defendant argues that “[i]n its supplemental response, the 

government [of China] . . . failed to explain with supporting documentation the steps it 

had taken to determine that none of Yama’s customers had used the EBC program 

during the review period, which Commerce specifically requested.” Def.’s Br. 14 (citing 

the GOC First Suppl. Questionnaire Resp. at 17, which requested “documentation from 

the Ex-Im Bank of China to support the GOC’s claims that it searched it [sic] records 

and confirmed that Yama’s customers did not receive credits under this program 

during the POR”). This argument is unsupported by, and is instead refuted by, the 

record evidence. 

The GOC provided an explanation of the steps taken to determine that no 

customer on Yama’s list obtained credits under the EBCP. GOC First Suppl. 

Questionnaire Resp. at 17–20. The “supporting documentation” part of the question was 

satisfied by the GOC’s submitting (a second time) the Administrative Measures and the 

EBCP Implementation Rules. Both clarify that the borrower may be an importer or a 

private bank, but these documents, read together and in the entirety, are record 

evidence supporting a finding that in either event the EX-IM Bank necessarily would 

have in its records required documentation submitted by, and to, the exporter. See, e.g., 

Administrative Measures at Article 14 (requiring submission of the “commercial contract 

draft or letter of intent” and “the credit materials and related supporting document of 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 20 

the borrower, guarantor, importer, exporter, and financial statement of the borrower 

and guarantor”); EBCP Implementation Rules at I(3) (providing for issuance of a letter to 

the exporter “to enable the export enterprise to engage in further commercial 

negotiations”), III(1) (“After the loan agreement has been signed and officially taken 

effect, the Export-Import Bank of China shall notify the export enterprise in writing.”). 

Further, the EX-IM Bank’s procedures require that the EX-IM Bank have recourse in the 

event of default and that the exporter obtain export credit insurance. See, e.g., EBCP 

Implementation Rules at I(4); Administrative Measures at Article 20 (specifying that the 

EX-IM Bank has the “right to recourse against borrower, loan guarantor or export credit 

guarantor according to loan agreement.”). 

The GOC’s response to the First Supplemental Questionnaire, the Administrative 

Measures, and the EBCP Implementation Rules are sufficient to refute any finding or 

inference that Yama or any of its customers could have benefited from the EBC program 

without Yama’s participation and, further, without any record of that participation 

being recorded in the EBCP’s required recordkeeping. Defendant’s argument might be 

read to imply that some further “documentation” of the record search should have been 

provided, but it is puzzling whether, or how, the EX-IM Bank could have provided 

additional “supporting documentation” about a record search that it reported as having 

undertaken when it also reported that search as having uncovered no pertinent 

documents, i.e., none identifying Yama or any of the companies on Yama’s customer list 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 21 

as participants in the program. See GOC First Suppl. Questionnaire Response at 17 (“The 

GOC also checked with the China Ex-Im Bank and confirmed that none of the U.S. 

customers of the mandatory respondent used the Export Buyer’s Credits during the 

POR”); see also EBCP Implementation Rules at V (requiring retention of complete project 

files). It is not clear how defendant expects the EX-IM Bank to have further “explained 

with supporting documentation” the EX-IM Bank’s determination that EBCP 

“documentation” pertaining to Yama or its customers did not exist. 

Defendant argues, also, that “the EBC program involves a complicated loan 

disbursement structure, the parameters of which the Chinese government has yet to 

identify, despite repeated requests, and Commerce required certain information from 

the government to understand the program so that it could verify the accuracy of 

non-use claims.” Def.’s Br. 25 (citing Final I&D Mem. at 37–41). This argument also 

disregards record evidence. The EBCP Implementation Rules provide procedures that 

describe the “parameters” under which the EX-IM Bank operates the program through 

a settlement bank. See EBCP Implementation Rules at III (“Usage of the loan”), 

IV (“Repayment of the loan”). Nothing in those “parameters” supports a conclusion or 

inference that Yama could have benefited from the EBCP without being aware of it or 

without its participation having been documented in the required EBCP recordkeeping. 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 22 

4. The Department’s Determination of an EBCP Benefit to Yama Was Not Supported 

by the Existing Administrative Record 

The court rejects the Department’s basing its adverse inference of a benefit to 

Yama on the GOC’s failure to provide a list of correspondent banks. The absence from 

the record of that list did not affect the Department’s ability to determine, or to conduct 

a verification on, whether Yama benefited from the EBCP. 

According to the Department’s own findings and reasoning, that list would not 

have enabled Commerce to determine whether a loan from a private bank to a U.S. 

customer of Yama was a loan originating from the EX-IM Bank under the EBCP unless 

Commerce also was provided the “paper trail” information it insisted it needed. Final 

I&D Mem. at 38 (“This same ‘paper trail’ would be necessary even if the GOC provided 

the list of correspondent banks.”), 40 (“In short, because the GOC failed to provide 

Commerce with information necessary to identify a paper trail of a direct or indirect 

export credit from the China EX-IM Bank, we would not know what to look for behind 

each loan in attempting to identify which loan was provided by the EX-IM Bank via a 

correspondent bank under the EBC program.”). In other words, Commerce found that 

the list of correspondent banks would have been of no use to Commerce absent other 

specific information, which Commerce failed to request from the GOC. Therefore, if the 

list of correspondent banks—although being withheld information within the meaning 

of 19 U.S.C. § 1677e(a)(2)(A)—had been present on the record, Commerce would not 

have used this information in determining whether Yama had been provided an EBCP 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 23 

benefit. For the same reason, the GOC, in failing to provide that list, cannot correctly be 

said to have significantly impeded the proceeding for purposes of 19 U.S.C. 

§ 1677e(a)(2)(C). For these reasons, and because Commerce disregarded “relevant 

information” that “exists elsewhere on the record,” Changzhou Trina, 42 CIT at __, 352 

F. Supp. 3d at 1325 (citation omitted), the absence of that information from the record 

did not permit Commerce to draw an adverse inference that Yama received an EBCP 

benefit. 

Moreover, Commerce made no attempt during the review to verify the statement 

by Yama, or that of any individual U.S. customer of Yama, that the EBCP was not used. 

Even without the list of correspondent banks it sought from the GOC, Commerce could 

have attempted to verify the negative response of at least some customers and, for 

example, could have made inquiries to the financial institutions as to the nature of any 

loans those customers used to buy Yama’s subject merchandise. Commerce illogically 

reasoned that unless it could verify the non-EBCP origin of all the loans of all the 

customers, it could not so verify any loan of any customer. In that respect, the 

Department’s presumption that no verification was possible amounts, on the record 

evidence, to unsupported speculation. On that evidence, it was impermissible for 

Commerce to punish Yama simply because Yama happened to sell its subject 

merchandise to a relatively large number of U.S. customers during the POR. 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 24 

The GOC’s failure to provide the 2013 amendments to the Administrative 

Measures is also insufficient, either alone or in combination with the failure to provide 

the list of correspondent banks, to support an adverse inference of a benefit to Yama 

from the EBCP. The GOC submitted the Administrative Measures and the EBCP 

Implementation Rules in response to the GOC’s request for the current procedures 

governing the EBCP. Commerce incorporated a finding from a previous review, the 

“Silica Fabric Investigation,” that the 2013 revisions “provide internal guidance for how 

this program is administrated by the EX-IM Bank.” Final I&D Mem. at 34 (citing Issues 

and Decision Memorandum for the Final Determination in the Countervailing Duty 

Investigation of Certain Amorphous Silica Fabric from the People's Republic of China at 12 

(Int’l Trade Admin. Jan 25, 2017)). If this finding is presumed correct, i.e., that the 2013 

revisions are “internal guidance,” then it would be inconsistent to presume also that 

they effected substantive, external modifications to the Administrative Measures under 

which it could be inferred that Yama benefited from the EBCP. Commerce engaged in 

speculation that the 2013 document related, in some undefined way, to the issue of 

whether Yama received an EBCP benefit. Commerce alluded to a finding from the 

Silica Fabric Investigation that the 2013 document “may have eliminated the 

USD 2 million contract minimum associated with this lending program.” Id. at 34. In 

this proceeding, Commerce inquired as to whether the $2 million threshold was in 

effect, and the GOC responded that it was. GOC First Suppl. Questionnaire Resp. at 18 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 25 

(stating that “for a business contract to be supported by the Export Buyer’s Credits, the 

contract amount must be more than 2 million U.S. dollars.”). 

In summary, the record does not support the Department’s conclusion that the 

information that Commerce requested and that the GOC failed to provide prevented 

Commerce from determining that Yama did not benefit from the EBCP. While lacking 

the list of correspondent banks and the 2013 revisions, Commerce had before it a large 

body of evidence, provided by Yama as well as by the GOC, supporting a finding that 

Yama did not do so. Commerce impermissibly ignored this “relevant information” that 

“exists elsewhere on the record,” Changzhou Trina, 42 CIT at __, 352 F. Supp. 3d at 1325 

(citation omitted), on its finding—itself unsupported by substantial record evidence—

that the two items of requested but missing information prevented it from finding 

“non-use” or verifying information that the record contained. 

For the reasons the court has discussed, the administrative record does not 

contain substantial evidence to support a finding that Yama benefited from the EBCP. 

Nor does it contain substantial evidence to support the Department’s finding that the 

record did not allow Commerce to determine whether a benefit to Yama occurred or its 

finding that it could not conduct any verification of Yama’s or its customers’ “non-use” 

of that program. 

The Department’s determination as to the EBCP was a final agency decision that 

has been subjected to judicial review and found to be unsupported by substantial 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 26 

evidence on the administrative record the agency collected and assembled during the 

CVD review proceeding. That determination, therefore, must be remanded for 

reconsideration. 

The remaining question is whether Commerce may reopen the record. 

Ordinarily, an agency remains free to reopen the record unless the court rules 

otherwise. NTN Bearing Corp. of Am. v. United States, 25 CIT 118, 124, 132 F. Supp. 2d 

1102, 1107 (2001), aff'd, 295 F.3d 1263 (Fed. Cir. 2002) (“As long as the Court does not 

forbid Commerce from considering new information, it remains within Commerce’s 

discretion to request and evaluate new data.”). In some cases a deficiency in the record 

can be remedied in a way that is expeditious and fair, but this is not the situation here. 

Rather, the record as it exists cannot support an imposition of countervailing duties for 

the EBCP for multiple reasons. Moreover, repeating the entire review as to the EBCP 

would be highly prejudicial and unfair, in terms of both time and expense, for the 

plaintiff, Yama, who was a fully cooperative respondent. See, e.g., Essar Steel Ltd. v. 

United States, 678 F.3d 1268, 1277 (Fed. Cir. 2012) (“To allow constant reopening and 

supplementation of the record would lead to inefficiency and delay in finality.”). 

Because Commerce, in including a rate for the EBCP, disregarded critical record 

evidence (including, in particular, the Administrative Measures and EBCP 

Implementation Rules), because of the need to ensure fairness to both parties, and in the 

interest of finality, the court will not exercise its discretion so as to authorize Commerce 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 27 

to reopen the record upon remand. Commerce must reconsider its EBCP determination 

on the basis of the existing record and reach a new determination that is in accordance 

with this Opinion and Order. 

E. Provision of Synthetic Yarn and Caustic Soda for Less-Than-Adequate 

Remuneration 

When an “authority,” which the Tariff Act defines as a “government of a country 

or any public entity within the territory of the country,” 19 U.S.C. § 1677(5)(B), confers a 

benefit upon a person by providing goods “for less than adequate remuneration,” id. 

§ 1677(5)(E)(iv), a countervailable subsidy may be found if the “specificity” requirement 

set forth in the statute, id. §§ 1677(5)(A), (5A), is satisfied. 

In the eighth review of the Order, Commerce stated that “we continue to find 

that, in the synthetic yarn and caustic soda markets: (1) Chinese prices are significantly 

distorted by the involvement of the GOC; and (2) privately-owned input suppliers of 

synthetic yarn and caustic soda are ‘authorities’ within the meaning of section 771(5)(B) 

of the Act [19 U.S.C. § 1677(5)(B)].” Final I&D Mem. at 14. Commerce stated, further, 

that “[w]e have also reexamined the specificity of both the synthetic yarn and caustic 

soda for LTAR and now find that provision of these inputs is de facto specific under 

section 771(5A)(D)(iii)(I) of the Act [19 U.S.C. § 1677(5A)(D)(iii)(I)].” Id. 

Concluding that the Chinese government did not provide certain requested 

information and failed to cooperate by not acting to the best of its ability to respond to 

its information requests, Commerce used facts otherwise available and drew adverse 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 28 

inferences that: (1) Yama’s suppliers of synthetic yarn and caustic soda were 

“authorities,” id. at 16–19, and that the provision of these inputs was “specific,” id. at 

19–22. Adopting without change the LTAR determinations it made in the Preliminary

Results, Commerce calculated a 27.74% subsidy rate for synthetic yarn, id. at 3, 23, and a 

subsidy rate of 0.27% for caustic soda, id. at 3. 

In contesting the LTAR determinations for the two inputs, Yama claimed that the 

record did not support a finding that the markets for them were distorted by either the 

GOC or the Chinese Communist Party, Pl.’s Br. 40, and that the record also failed to 

support the Department’s treating its suppliers as authorities, id. at 44–46. While 

arguing that the issue of specificity was, therefore, moot, Yama argued in the alternative 

that the provision of synthetic yarn and caustic soda was not “specific” because 

“synthetic yarn and caustic soda have a wide range of uses, including, but not limited 

[to], use in the narrow woven ribbon industry.” Id. at 46 (citations omitted). 

Further to the issue of specificity, Yama argued that “[t]here is no evidence on 

the record to even remotely suggest that any LTAR subsidy is specific either as a matter 

of law or fact” and that “Commerce did not place anything on the record to suggest 

otherwise.” Id. at 47. Defendant stated, in response, that “Yama is correct that 

Commerce did not place information on the record to support its de facto specificity 

finding.” Def.’s Br. 46. Defendant explained that “in determining that the subsidy is 

de facto specific, Commerce relied on information from the petitioner’s new subsidy 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 29 

allegation in the 2015 segment of this administrative review” but “inadvertently did not 

place the 2015 New Subsidy Allegation information on the record of this review.” Id. 

(citations omitted). Noting that interested parties did not have the opportunity to 

comment on that information as specified in 19 U.S.C. § 1677m(g), defendant requested 

that the court “remand this issue to Commerce so that Commerce may place the 

information on the record of the review and allow parties the opportunity to comment, 

and if necessary, reconsider its de facto specificity determination.” Id. (citing SKF USA 

Inc. v. United States, 254 F.3d 1022, 1027–31 (Fed. Cir. 2001)). Defendant requests that 

the court “grant our motion for voluntary remand for the de facto specificity issue, deny 

plaintiff’s motion in all other respects, and sustain Commerce’s final results.” Id. at 47. 

Plaintiff opposes defendant’s motion for a remand on the grounds that the LTAR 

issue is “moot,” that the material sought to be added (characterized by plaintiff as the 

“Public Bodies Memorandum”) is speculation, not evidence, adding nothing to the 

discussion of this issue, and that the interest of finality dictates against allowing 

supplementation of the record. Pl.’s Reply 12–13. 

The court does not agree with plaintiff’s argument that it should preclude 

supplementation of the record in the limited way that defendant proposes. Defendant 

having pointed out that Commerce considered the information it seeks to add to the 

record but inadvertently omitted it when assembling that record, the court views as 

reasonable the request to reopen the record for the sole purpose defendant identifies. If 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 30 

the information was used in the agency’s decision-making process, then the addition to 

the record of that information should have been accomplished in the ordinary course, 

and the apparent procedural error should be corrected. Plaintiff may raise its objections 

to the relevance and probativity of the new information once that information has been 

placed on the record and provided to it. 

Beyond the request to reopen and supplement the record, defendant’s request for 

a remand is unsatisfactory in two respects. First, if the court allows Commerce to 

supplement the record and to reconsider its determination on specificity as to the 

provision of synthetic yarn and caustic soda, the court at the same time cannot, as 

defendant urges, “sustain Commerce’s final results.” Second, the court declines to 

adopt defendant’s piecemeal approach to the litigation of the LTAR issues, under which 

defendant would have Commerce consider only the specificity question and have the 

court “deny plaintiff’s motion in all other respects.” 

The court will allow Commerce to add to the record the information from the 

petitioner’s new subsidy allegation in the 2015 segment of this administrative review, 

upon which, according to defendant’s statement to the court, Commerce relied in 

making its specificity determinations as to synthetic yarn and caustic soda. Commerce 

shall allow plaintiff to submit comments to it that address this new information. To 

avoid a piecemeal approach, Commerce shall reconsider its LTAR determinations for 

these two inputs, in the entirety, based on the supplemented record and the comments 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 31 

plaintiff submits. Plaintiff then will have the opportunity to comment on the 

redetermination upon remand that Commerce submits to the court. 

III. CONCLUSION AND ORDER

A remand of the Final Results to Commerce is required in this case for 

reconsideration of the Department’s determination as to the EBCP and to allow a 

limited supplementation of the record with respect to the Department’s LTAR 

determinations. 

Upon consideration of all papers and proceedings had herein, and upon due 

deliberation, it is hereby 

ORDERED that Yama Ribbons and Bows Co., Ltd.’s Rule 56.2 Motion for 

Judgment on the Agency Record (Feb. 4, 2022), ECF Nos 27 (Conf.), 28 (Public) be, and 

hereby is, granted in part; it is further 

ORDERED that Commerce shall submit to the court a redetermination upon 

remand (“Remand Redetermination”) that reconsiders, based on the existing record, 

the Department’s determination on the EBCP program and reaches a new 

determination that is in accordance with this Opinion and Order; it is further 

ORDERED that Commerce shall supplement the administrative record with the 

“2015 New Subsidy Allegation information” that, according to defendant’s statement 

to the court, Commerce inadvertently failed to place on the record of the 

administrative review, shall provide that information to plaintiff upon doing so, and 

shall allow plaintiff to submit to Commerce comments on this new information; it is 

further 

ORDERED that in the Remand Redetermination, Commerce shall reconsider its 

LTAR determinations for synthetic yarn and caustic soda in the entirety, based on the 

supplemented administrative record; it is further 
Court No. 21-00402 Page 32 

ORDERED that Commerce shall submit the Remand Redetermination to the 

court within 60 days of the date of this Opinion and Order; it is further 

ORDERED that plaintiff shall have 30 days from the date of submission of the 

Remand Redetermination to submit to the court comments thereon; and it is further 

ORDERED that defendant shall have 15 days from the submission of plaintiff’s 

comments on the Remand Redetermination to submit to the court a response to those 

comments. 

 /s/ Timothy C. Stanceu 

 Timothy C. Stanceu 

 Judge 

Dated: August 25, 2023 

 New York, New York