Koyo Seiko Co., Ltd. v. US, Court No. 87-10-01012.

• Decision Date: 03 October 1990
• Docket Number: Court No. 87-10-01012.
• Citation: 14 CIT 680,746 F. Supp. 1108
• Parties: KOYO SEIKO CO., LTD. and Koyo Corporation of U.S.A., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES; The Department of Commerce; Robert A. Mosbacher, Secretary of Commerce, Defendants, and The Timken Company, Defendant-Intervenor.
• Court: U.S. Court of International Trade

746 F. Supp. 1108

14 CIT 680

KOYO SEIKO CO., LTD. and Koyo Corporation of U.S.A., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES; The Department of Commerce; Robert A. Mosbacher, Secretary of Commerce, Defendants, and The Timken Company, Defendant-Intervenor.

Court No. 87-10-01012.

United States Court of International Trade.

October 3, 1990.

Tanaka Ritger & Middleton, H. William Tanaka, Patrick F. O'Leary, Alice L. Mattice and John J. Kenkel, Washington, D.C., for plaintiffs.

Stuart M. Gerson, Asst. Atty. Gen., David M. Cohen, Director, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civ. Div., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., Velta A. Melnbrencis, New York City (Stephanie J. Mitchell, Atty.-Advisor, Office of Chief Counsel for Import Admin., Dept. of Commerce, Washington, D.C., of counsel), for defendants.

Stewart and Stewart, Eugene L. Stewart, Terence P. Stewart, James R. Cannon, Jr. and John M. Breen, Washington, D.C. (Scott A. Scherff, Sr. Corp. Counsel, The Timken Co., Canton, Ohio, of counsel), for defendant-intervenor.

OPINION

TSOUCALAS, Judge:

This action constitutes yet another challenge to Commerce's final antidumping determination of tapered roller bearings ("TRBs") from Japan. Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value; Tapered Roller Bearings and Parts Thereof, Finished and Unfinished, From Japan, 52 Fed.Reg. 30,700 (Aug. 17, 1987), amended, 52 Fed.Reg. 47,955 (Dec. 17, 1987). Pursuant to Rules 56.1 and 56.1(f) of the Rules of this Court, plaintiffs KOYO SEIKO CO., LTD. and KOYO CORPORATION of U.S.A. (collectively KOYO) herein move for partial judgment on the agency record as to Count IV(5)(i) of their amended complaint. The aforementioned count charges Commerce with unlawfully refusing plaintiffs' request for correction of certain clerical errors present in the computer data it submitted to be utilized by the International Trade Administration (ITA) in preparing its final determination. Plaintiffs maintain that immediate resolution of this issue would serve judicial economy as the need for further litigation may well be mitigated. In opposition to said motion defendants and defendant-intervenor join, insisting that Commerce was not required to correct KOYO's clerical errors after the final determination was issued.

Background

In 1987, responding to a petition from the domestic industry, Commerce initiated an antidumping investigation of TRBs and parts thereof imported from Japan. After an extended investigatory period, Commerce issued its final affirmative dumping determination which assessed an estimated dumping margin of 70.44% for KOYO. 52 Fed.Reg. 30,709. It soon became apparent, however, that the determination was tainted by numerous ministerial errors. Consequently, the ITA informed all interested parties that they would have two weeks to review and comment on the errors contained in the final determination after which an amended determination would be published. Petitioner as well as respondents to the investigation (including plaintiffs herein) addressed a series of clerical and computational errors committed by the ITA. In addition, plaintiffs informed Commerce that a review of the sales listing computer input tapes, which it (KOYO) had submitted to the ITA for calculation of their dumping margin, revealed various transcription errors. Within the allotted two weeks, plaintiffs sought correction of both the errors in its submissions and those for which the ITA was solely responsible, noting that correction of the clerical errors would not require further investigation as Commerce was already in possession of an accurate hard copy of U.S. sales figures in the administrative record.¹

Throughout the post-final determination proceedings KOYO maintained that the transcription errors were committed by the company they commissioned to assure that their hard copy data was properly transcribed to a computer format compatible with that used by the ITA. This claim is supported by Commerce's receipt of a communication from Mr. Joseph L. Meier, President of Yield Data Services, acknowledging that his company was retained by plaintiffs to verify the accuracy of the sales listing database and that it was during this procedure that the subject errors occurred. Plaintiffs' Memorandum in Support of Motion for Partial Judgment on the Agency Record ("Plaintiffs' Memo") at Appendix I.

Upon evaluation of all comments, the ITA subsequently issued an amended determination reflecting the correction of the errors which had resulted exclusively from agency action. Notwithstanding KOYO's entreaties, the ITA failed to correct the errors on plaintiffs' computer input tapes. Plaintiffs' dumping margin under the amended determination was estimated at 36.21%. 52 Fed.Reg. 47,955.

At no time have defendants disputed plaintiffs' allegations that the errors they sought to have corrected were purely clerical and would not require further examination of the facts, or that their correction would significantly reduce KOYO's dumping margin.² Commerce simply maintains that the ITA exercised proper discretion in denying plaintiffs' request for correction of the clerical errors because corrected copies of the computer tapes were not submitted before the final determination was issued. Defendants' Memo at 2-3.

Hence, plaintiffs seek to have these clerical errors immediately corrected. For the reasons stated herein, the Court remands to the ITA for correction, the clerical and transcription errors on plaintiffs' U.S. sales listing computer input tapes.

Discussion

There can be no doubt that Congress intended final determinations to be precisely that. Indeed, if determinations were constantly subject to amendment, "it would be difficult to answer the question as to when a final determination would ever be made." Badger-Powhatan, Div. of Figgie Int'l, Inc. v. United States, 10 CIT 241, 245, 633 F.Supp. 1364, 1369 (1986) (emphasis in original). The Court further acknowledges that the imposed deadlines must be strictly adhered to if Commerce is to conduct antidumping investigations effectively.

This notwithstanding, it is axiomatic that fair and accurate determinations are fundamental to the proper administration of our dumping laws. Consequently, courts have uniformly authorized the correction of any clerical errors which would affect the accuracy of a determination. See e.g., Ipsco Inc. v. United States, 14 CIT ___, Slip Op. 90-37, 1990 WL 51968 (April 16, 1990); Asociacion Colombiana de Exportadores de Flores v. United States, 13 CIT ___, 704 F.Supp. 1114 (1989); Daewoo Elec. Co. v. United States, 13 CIT ___, 712 F.Supp. 931 (1989); Borlem, S.A. Empreedimentos Industriais v. United States, 12 CIT ___, Slip Op. 88-77, 1988 WL 63336 (June 15, 1988); Serampore Indus., Pvt. Ltd. v. United States, 12 CIT ___, 696 F.Supp. 665 (1988); Gilmore Steel Corp. v. United States, 7 CIT 219, 585 F.Supp. 670 (1984); Atlantic Sugar, Ltd. v. United States, 1 CIT 211, 511 F.Supp. 819 (1981).

In fact, this court, in Florex v. United States, acknowledged that the collection of actual information is at the heart of the ITA's investigations. 13 CIT ___, ___, 705 F.Supp. 582, 588 (1989). Furthermore, in Serampore Industries Pvt. Ltd. v. United States Department of Commerce, a case recently before the court with circumstances analogous to...