Opinion ID: 512988
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Conversion of Foreign Currencies.

Text: 24 In its final determination, for the purpose of comparing the foreign market value with the United States price, the ITA converted the foreign market value into United States dollars by using the exchange rate in effect at the time of the sale of red raspberries in the United States, not at the time of exportation of the raspberries from Canada to the United States. 31 The ITA reasoned that currency conversion at the time of the United States sale appears to be more consistent with section 615 of the Trade and Tariff Act of 1984 [19 U.S.C. Sec. 1677b (Supp. III 1985) ]. 32 The Court of International Trade upheld the ITA's reliance on section 615, concluding that such reliance was an appropriate exercise of the ITA's authority to determine foreign market value. 33 25 WRRC, citing 19 C.F.R. Sec. 353.56(a), 34 argues that, where an exporter's sale price is used to establish the United States price, the foreign market value of the product is to be computed as of the date of exportation. On this basis, WRRC contends that the Court of International Trade erred by sustaining the ITA's calculations. This argument is not persuasive. 26 The Court of International Trade, in addressing this issue, concluded that 35 27 it would now be anomalous for the time of the first sale of imported merchandise within the United States to an unrelated purchaser to be the point of reference for foreign market value in accordance with [19 U.S.C. Sec. 1677b], while converting the foreign currency involved as of the date of exportation within the meaning of [19 C.F.R. Sec. 353.56(a) ] [footnote omitted] which may have been months or even calendar quarters earlier. 28 We are in complete agreement with the Court of International Trade. Both the United States price and the foreign market value are subject to cost adjustments in an attempt to derive values at a common point in the chain of commerce, so that the values reasonably can be compared on an equivalent basis. 36 That is precisely what the ITA did in this case. The antidumping statute was amended in 1984, requiring comparison of foreign market value with exporter's sales price on the date of sale of the imported merchandise in the United States, and the ITA, in this case, was acting in accordance with the law by converting the foreign currency involved as of the date of the United States sale. 29