Court Opinion

ID: 9470622
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 03:11:21.451067+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:42:01.054451
License: Public Domain

JACK R. MILLER, Circuit Judge,
dissenting in part.
Although I completely agree with the majority opinion’s conclusion that receipt of representations by the International Trade Administration from the intended targets of investigation, or their representatives, was illegal, I have concluded that the Court of International Trade properly held that appellee’s petition satisfies the requirements of the statute, 19 U.S.C. § 1673a(b)(l), so that the petition should be reinstated and the investigation should be commenced.
The statute provides that ITA shall institute an antidumping proceeding if the petition alleges the elements of a dumping violation and includes information reasonably available to the petitioner supporting those allegations.
§ 1673a. Procedures for initiating an antidumping duty investigation
(b) Initiation by petition
(1) Petition requirements
An antidumping proceeding shall be commenced whenever an interested party described in subparagraph (C), (D), or (E) of section 1677(9) of this title files a petition with the administering authority, on behalf of an industry, which alleges the elements necessary for the imposition of the duty imposed by section 1673 of this title, and which is accompanied by information reasonably available to the petitioner supporting those allegations. The petition may be amended at such time, and upon such conditions, as the administering authority and the Commission may permit.
Within 20 days after the date of filing the petition, ITA is required by 19 U.S.C. § 1673a(c) to determine whether the petition alleges the necessary elements and whether it contains information reasonably available supporting the allegations. If this determination is affirmative, an investigation shall be commenced to determine whether merchandise is being sold at less than fair value.
(c) Petition determination
Within 20 days after the date on which a petition is filed under subsection (b) of this section, the administering authority shall—
(1) determine whether- the petition alleges the elements necessary for - the imposition of a duty under section 1673 of this title and contains information reasonably available to the petitioner supporting the allegations,
(2) if the determination is affirmative, commence an investigation to determine whether the class or kind of merchandise described in the petition is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than its fair value, and provide for the publication of notice of the determination in the Federal Register, and
(3) if the determination is negative, dismiss the petition, terminate the proceeding, notify the petitioner in writing of the reasons for the determination, and provide for the publication of notice of the determination in the Federal Register.
Unless the ITA’s determination is negative, the International Trade Commission (Commission) is to determine within 45 days after .the date of filing of the petition whether there is a reasonable indication that a U.S. industry is materially injured or threatened with material injury, or establishment of a U.S. industry is materially retarded. 19 U.S.C. § 1673b(a). Then, within 160 days after the date of filing of the. petition, ITA determines whether there is a reasonable basis to believe or suspect *1572that the merchandise is being dumped.1 Thus, 19 U.S.C. § 1673b(b)(l) provides:
(b) Preliminary determination by administering authority
(1) Period of antidumping duty investigation
Within 160 days after the date on which a petition is filed under section 1673a(b) of this title, or an investigation is commenced under section 1673a(a) of this title, but not before an affirmative determination by the Commission under subsection (a) of this section, the administering authority shall make a determination, based upon the best information available to it at the time of the determination, of whether there is a reasonable basis to believe or suspect that the merchandise is being sold, or is likely to be sold at less than fair value. If the determination of the administering authority under this subsection is affirmative, the determination shall include the estimated average amount by which the foreign market value exceeds the United States price.
The foregoing constitutes the screening process to weed out cases that are without merit.2
The legislative history of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 (Pub.L. 96-39, 93 Stat. 144, 163) provides the guidelines intended to be followed by ITA in evaluating petitions — those specifically relating to the virtually identical statutory provision (1671a(b)) on countervailing duty investigations.
Indeed, the Committee intends that the Authority will act upon all petitions which, based upon facts reasonably available to the petitioner, make reasonable allegations of the presence of the elements necessary for the imposition of a countervailing duty under section 701(a). Consequently, the Committee expects that the Authority will act upon most petitions, rejecting only those which are clearly frivolous, not reasonably supported by the facts alleged or which omit important facts which are reasonably available to the petitioner. The Committee views, the rigor of the requirements of this threshold test as roughly analogous to the rigor of the requirements necessary to make out a cause of action for purposes of civil litigation. Furthermore, if the initial petition is dismissed because *1573certain required information is not included or is not presented in a manner that is acceptable to the Authority, it is expected that the administering authority will ' direct the petitioner to possible sources of information.
H.R.Rep. No. 317, 96th Cong., 1st Sess. 51 (1979).
The majority opinion proceeds on the premise that it would be absurd to say that an “outside party” (albeit an “interested party” on behalf of an industry, as provided by § 1673a(b)(l)) could compel an investigation the ITA knows of its own knowledge would be unwarranted. However, Congress did not provide a “knows of its own knowledge” test. Rather, its guidelines are those quoted above, although it would be reasonable to conclude that rejection of petitions which are “clearly frivolous, not reasonably supported by the facts alleged or which omit important facts which are reasonably available to the petitioner” would avoid most “unwarranted” investigations. The point should be emphasized, however, that the intent of Congress was for ITA not to determine the relative credibility of conflicting evidence at the preinvestigative stage, as ■ the majority opinion would do. Thus:
The committee intends section 732(c)(1) [1673(c)(1) ] to result in investigations being commenced unless the authority is convinced that the petition and supporting information fail to state a claim upon which relief can be granted under section 731 or the petitioner does not provide information supporting the allegations which is reasonably available to him....
The committee intends the determination as to the information “reasonably available” to a petitioner to be made in light of the circumstances of each petitioner. Information may be reasonably available to one petitioner but not to another because of differing resources or other characteristics.
S.Rep. No. 249, 96th Cong., 1st Sess. 63 (1979) reprinted in 1979 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 381, 449.
The Committee has long been concerned that petition requirements not be so onerous as to preclude petitioners presenting meritorious complaints from obtaining the 'remedy provided by the law. The Committee therefore intends that no petitioner shall be required to provide information not reasonably available to him. An evaluation of what information is reasonably available will be made on the basis of the resources of the individual petitioner. The petitioner will be expected to use reasonable efforts to collect information from public and industry sources.
H.R.Rep. No. 317, 96 Cong., 1st Sess. 60 (1979).
The majority’s quotation of the colloquy between Senators Ribicoff and Danforth is particularly illuminating of the intent of Congress that ITA is to “look only to the four corners of the petition — the pleading— and the information filed supporting the allegations and not elsewhere.” Nothing is said about “agency expertise” or what ITA “knows of its own knowledge.” Judicial notice of facts in the public domain may be taken by ITA, but this does not include all facts in the public domain — only those facts of which judicial notice can be taken. See Rule 201 of the Federal Rules of Evidence:
A judicially noticed fact must be one not subject to reasonable dispute in that it is either (1) generally known within the territorial jurisdiction of the trial court or (2) capable of accurate and ready determination by resort to sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.
. Finally, I see no good reason for overruling the Court of International Trade’s determination that the allegations of appel-lee’s petition satisfy the requirements of the statute and that the supporting information from both public study and private industry survey tends to support these allegations. The petition was rejected for two reasons — because U.S. price data were not supplied and because of an apparent conflict between a Bureau of Census report (which supports appellee’s allegations) and a market research report prepared by ap-*1574pellee, which explained why the figures in its report were not credible and that the figures were submitted merely for completeness in order to comply with its duty of disclosure. I would hold that, assuming the above-referred to guidelines are satisfied, evaluation of the information provided by appellee should be left to the investigative stage rather than made before an investigation is commenced.3
Also, I agree with the Court of International Trade’s holding that ITA erred in requiring appellee to furnish data on U.S. selling price in its petition, absent a showing that such information was “reasonably available” to appelleé.

. The majority opinion would have these determinations made before an investigation is initiated. Although the majority opinion asserts that it says the contrary, its subsequent description of the agency’s role in evaluating petitions at the preinvestigatory stage belies the assertion. Specifically, the majority opinion would read the statute to allow, indeed, require, the agency to assess the allegations of the petition and the supporting data “in light of its own knowledge and expertise . . . Federal Register material, government statistics and publications ... laws, regulations, and possibly more, of the interested foreign government.”
The majority opinion concludes that
Congress intended the application of agency expertise, not only to examine the petition and supporting data for internal inconsistencies, but also to evaluate it in light of a wide body of other information, to the end that, so far as possible, the commencement of unwarranted investigations should be avoided.
Thus, even in situations where a petitioner both alleges the elements of dumping and provides information supporting its allegations (which is all that the statute requires), the majority opinion would allow ITA to subjectively weigh the credibility of the petitioner’s supporting data against other, contradictory data, and to make this factual determination at the preinvestigato-ry stage. That is precisely what occurred in the present case.

. The working of this screening process is recognized early in the majority opinion, thus: “If in the end the investigation proves to have been unwarranted, the reputation of the agency is not impugned. On ^the other hand, if the conscience of Asocoflores is clear, it can explain the initiation of the investigation to its customers as an event of no legal significance.” The opinion then proceeds to explain the statutory safeguards that protect the target during the aforementioned screening process. However, the opinion subsequently says: “If, as the end of the [20-day] period approaches the agency does not know whether to say yes or no, but only maybe, it has to say no in order to preserve its position. If it says yes, it would have to investigate and the chance to consider further would be gone.” That “chance to consider further,” to determine whether there is a reasonable basis to believe or suspect that there is dumping, comes in the 160-day period — not in the 20-day period prescribed for considering the petition.

. This conclusion is supported by 19 U.S.C. § 1677e, which requires that all information relied on for a final determination in an investigation be verified if possible, thus:
§ 1677e. Verification of information
(a) General Rule
Except with respect to information the verification of which is waived under section 1673b(b)(2) of this title, the administering authority shall verify all information relied upon in making a final determination in an investigation. In publishing such a determination, the administering authority shall report the methods and procedures used to verify such information. If the administering authority is unable to verify the accuracy of the information submitted, it shall , use the best information available to it as the basis for its determination, which may include the information submitted in support of the petition.
(b) Determinations to be made on best information available
In making their determinations under this subtitle, the administering authority and the Commission shall, whenever a party or any other person refuses or is unable to produce information requested in a timely manner and in the form required, or otherwise significantly impedes an investigation, use the best information otherwise available.