Opinion ID: 624415
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Plaintiffs' Allegations and the Court of International Trade Decision

Text: Plaintiffs are domestic producers seeking distributions of antidumping duties under the CDSOA. They filed suit in 2009 against Customs and Commerce (collectively Government), as well as various sureties (Surety Defendants). As Plaintiffs allege in their Complaint, Customs has failed to collect millions of dollars of assessed antidumping duties in recent years. Plaintiffs assert that a large portion of these uncollected funds can be traced back to Customs bonds posted in conjunction with new shipper reviews. Specifically, Plaintiffs contend that all or virtually all of the Customs bonds issued between January 1, 1995 and August 18, 2006 stem from a mere twenty AD ordersall involving Chinese imports (the twenty Chinese Orders). Compl. ¶¶ 3-4. Moreover, Plaintiffs allege that the vast majority of the Customs bonds issued within this timeframe relate back to AD orders on the following four products: fresh garlic, certain preserved mushrooms, freshwater crawfish tail meat, and pure honey (the Four Orders). Id. at ¶ 4. As Plaintiffs summarize, of the 174 new shipper reviews conducted between January 1, 1995 and August 18, 2006 under the twenty Chinese Orders, 107 were conducted under the Four Orders. Id. Citing information from Customs' website, Plaintiffs represent in their Complaint that Customs has failed to collect $723 million of the $771 million in final AD duties assessed under the Four Orders over the past six years. Id. at ¶ 7. Plaintiffs then allege that most of these uncollected duties are owed by sureties who posted Customs bonds on behalf of new shippers. Id. Notably, Plaintiffs explain that substantially all imports from the twenty-seven importers participating in new shipper reviews under the Four Orders ceased after Congress suspended the new shipper bonding option. This lawsuit involves numerous claims that, for the most part, fall into two categories. Regarding the first category of claims (i.e., Counts 1-7), Plaintiffs seek to enforce new shipper bond contracts as third-party beneficiaries. In asserting these claims, Plaintiffs sued the Government as well as various sureties that allegedly insured new shipper bonds. Regarding the second category of claims (i.e., Counts 8-15), Plaintiffs contend that Customs and Commerce failed to satisfy a number of statutory and regulatory obligations, which prevented the collection and distribution of antidumping duties. The Court of International Trade dismissed all fifteen of Plaintiffs' claims at the motion to dismiss stage. Specifically, the Court of International Trade dismissed Counts 2, 3, 4, and 6 for lack of standing and Counts 1 and 5 for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. See Sioux Honey, 700 F.Supp.2d at 1330. For the most part, these dismissals resulted from the Court of International Trade's conclusion that Plaintiffs failed to qualify as intended third-party beneficiaries of the bond contracts. The Court of International Trade also dismissed Counts 7, 8, 9, 13, and 14 for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and Counts 10, 11, 12, and 15 for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. See Sioux Honey, 722 F.Supp.2d at 1342. These claims were dismissed on standing, ripeness, or Twombly grounds. See Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). Finally, the Court of International Trade denied Plaintiffs' motion for jurisdictional discovery. See Sioux Honey, 722 F.Supp.2d at 1366-72. Plaintiffs appealed from the Court of International Trade's judgment. We generally have jurisdiction to hear appeals from the Court of International Trade under 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(5). As explained below, however, we lack jurisdiction over some of the claims at issue.