The U.S. Court of International Trade remanded a decision by the U.S. Department of Commerce that imposed steep countervailing duties on certain corrosion-resistant steel products from the Republic of Korea produced by MMM client KG Dongbu Steel.
At issue was Commerce’s determination to reverse its prior determinations that three of KG Dongbu’s debt-to-equity swaps provided no countervailable benefit. KG Dongbu Steel argued that Commerce had provided no reasoned basis for reversing its prior consistent findings that the three debt-to-equity swaps did not provide countervailable subsidies. Dongbu also argued that Commerce failed to consider evidence that any benefit from the swaps was extinguished by the arm’s length acquisition of Dongbu by the KG Consortium for fair market value. In a forceful decision, CIT Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves agreed with all of MMM’s arguments and ruled in favor of KG Dongbu Steel.
KG Dongbu Steel was represented by Brady Mills, Mary Hodgins, and Nick Duffey. Read more in Law360 here.
