Furniture Brands Int'l, Inc. v. United States

Citation807 F.Supp.2d 1301,33 ITRD 2203
Decision Date20 October 2011
Docket NumberSlip Op. 11–132.Court No. 07–00026.
PartiesFURNITURE BRANDS INTERNATIONAL, INC., Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES and United States International Trade Commission, Defendants,andAmerican Furniture Manufacturers Committee for Legal Trade and Vaughan–Bassett Furniture Company, Inc., Defendant–Intervenors.
CourtU.S. Court of International Trade

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

David W. DeBruin and Matthew E. Price, Jenner & Block LLP, of Washington, DC, for plaintiff.

Jessica R. Toplin, David S. Silverbrand, and Courtney S. McNamara, Trial Attorneys, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, of Washington, DC, for defendant United States. With them on the briefs were Tony West, Assistant Attorney General, Jeanne E. Davidson, Director, Franklin E. White, Jr., Assistant Director. Of counsel on the briefs was Andrew G. Jones, Office of Assistant Chief Counsel, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, of New York, NY.

Patrick V. Gallagher, Jr., Attorney Advisor, Office of the General Counsel, U.S. International Trade Commission, of Washington, DC, for defendant United States International Trade Commission. With him on the briefs were James M. Lyons, General Counsel, and Neal J. Reynolds, Assistant General Counsel.Joseph W. Dorn and Jeffrey M. Telep, King & Spalding LLP, of Washington, DC, for defendant-intervenors. With them on the briefs were Steven R. Keener and Taryn K. Williams. Of counsel on the briefs was Richard H. Fallon, of Cambridge, MA.Before: Gregory W. Carman, Judge, Timothy C. Stanceu, Judge, Leo M. Gordon, Judge.

OPINION

STANCEU, Judge:

This case arises from decisions of the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC” or the “Commission”) to deny plaintiff Furniture Brands International, Inc. (Furniture Brands) status as an “affected domestic producer” (“ADP”) under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (“CDSOA” or “Byrd Amendment”), Pub.L. No. 106–387, §§ 1001–03, 114 Stat. 1549, 1549A–72–75 (codified at 19 U.S.C. § 1675c (2000)),1 repealed by Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, Pub.L. 109–171, § 7601(a), 120 Stat. 4, 154 (Feb. 8, 2006; effective Oct. 1, 2007). ADP status potentially would have qualified Furniture Brands for distributions of antidumping duties collected under an antidumping duty order on imports of wooden bedroom furniture from the People's Republic of China (“China” or the “PRC”). Notice of Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value & Antidumping Duty Order: Wooden Bedroom Furniture From the People's Republic of China, 70 Fed.Reg. 329 (Jan. 4, 2005) (“ Antidumping Duty Order). Plaintiff brings a constitutional challenge to the CDSOA and to the ITC's decisions under the CDSOA denying it ADP status for fiscal years 2006 through 2008. Second Supplemental Compl. ¶¶ 53–56 (deemed filed Oct. 8, 2008), ECF No. 46. Plaintiff also challenges the refusal of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“Customs”) to pay it CDSOA distributions. Id. ¶¶ 57–59.

Before the court are four dispositive motions. Defendant-intervenors American Furniture Manufacturers Committee for Legal Trade and Vaughan–Bassett Furniture Company, Inc. and defendant Customs move for judgment on the pleadings under USCIT Rule 12(c). Def.-Intervenors' Mot. for J. on the Pleadings (Feb. 23, 2011), ECF No. 72 (“Def.-intervenor's Mot.”); Defs. the United States & U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Mot. for J. on the Pleadings (May 4, 2011), ECF No. 95 (“Customs' Mot.”). Defendant ITC moves under USCIT Rule 12(b)(5) to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Def. U.S. Int'l Trade Comm'n's Mot. to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim (May 2, 2011), ECF No. 90 (“ITC's Mot.”). Plaintiff moves to dismiss its own complaint under USCIT Rule 12(b)(1), asserting a lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and moves in the alternative to amend that complaint to add two new claims. Mot. to Dismiss for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction, or, in the Alternative, for Leave to Amend the Compl. (Mar. 29, 2011), ECF No. 84 (“Pl.'s Mot.”).

The court determines that it has subject matter jurisdiction over this action and that no relief can be granted on the complaint. The court denies as futile plaintiff's motion to amend the complaint, and concludes that this action should be dismissed.

I. Background

In 2005, Commerce issued an antidumping duty order on imports of wooden bedroom furniture from China. Antidumping Duty Order, 70 Fed.Reg. at 329. During proceedings before the ITC to determine whether such imports were causing or threatening to cause material injury to the domestic industry, Furniture Brands responded to the ITC's questionnaires, opposing the issuance of an antidumping duty order. U.S. Producers' Questionnaire—Furniture Brands 2 (Sept. 3, 2004) (ITC Admin. R. Doc. No. 5), ECF No. 17; Second Supplemental Compl. ¶ 27. The ITC did not list Furniture Brands as an ADP with respect to this order for fiscal years 2006, 2007, or 2008. Distribution of Continued Dumping & Subsidy Offset to Affected Domestic Producers, 71 Fed.Reg. 31,336, 31,375–76 (June 1, 2006); Distribution of Continued Dumping & Subsidy Offset to Affected Domestic Producers, 72 Fed.Reg. 29,582, 29,622–23 (May 29, 2007); Distribution of Continued Dumping & Subsidy Offset to Affected Domestic Producers, 73 Fed.Reg. 31,196, 31,236–37 (May 30, 2008).

In January 2007, plaintiff commenced this action to challenge the government's failure to provide it CDSOA distributions for fiscal year 2006. Compl. (Jan. 23, 2007), ECF No. 4. Customs and the ITC filed their answers to the complaint on March 28 and March 29, 2007, respectively. Answer (Mar. 28, 2007), ECF. No. 20 (answer of Customs); Answer (Mar. 28, 2007), ECF No. 21 (answer of the ITC). Defendant-intervenors filed their answer on April 11, 2007. Answer (Apr. 11, 2007), ECF No. 28. The court then stayed this action pending a final resolution of other litigation raising the same or similar issues.2 Order (June 5, 2007), ECF No. 39. On December 12, 2007, the court lifted this stay for the limited purpose of allowing an amendment to the complaint to include a challenge to the denial of CDSOA distributions to plaintiff for fiscal year 2007. Order (Dec. 12, 2007), ECF No. 44; First Amended Compl. (deemed filed Oct. 18, 2007), ECF No. 45. On December 11, 2008, the court again lifted the stay for the limited purpose of allowing amendment of the complaint, this time to include a challenge to denial of CDSOA distributions to plaintiff for fiscal year 2008. Order (Dec. 11, 2008), ECF No. 50; Second Supplemental Compl.

Following the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Court of Appeals”) in SKF USA Inc. v. United States, 556 F.3d 1337 (2009) (“ SKF USA II ”), cert. denied, ––– U.S. ––––, 130 S.Ct. 3273, 176 L.Ed.2d 1182 (2010), which addressed legal questions that are also present in this case, the court ordered plaintiff to show cause why this case should not be dismissed. Order (Jan. 3, 2011), ECF No. 57. After plaintiff responded to the court's order, the court lifted its stay on this action for all purposes. Order (Feb. 9, 2011), ECF No. 66; Pl.'s Br. in Resp. to the Ct.'s Order to Show Cause (Jan. 28, 2011), ECF No. 63. Defendant-intervenors filed their motion for judgment on the pleadings on February 23, 2011. Def.-intervenor's Mot. While briefing on this motion was pending, plaintiff filed its motion to dismiss pursuant to USCIT Rule 12(b)(1) or for leave to amend the complaint. Pl.'s Mot. Defendants Customs and ITC subsequently filed their dispositive motions. ITC's Mot.; Customs' Mot. Briefing on all dispositive motions is now complete.

During briefing on the various dispositive motions, plaintiff filed a letter notifying the court of a recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which decision, according to plaintiff, “carries great significance for the pending motions to dismiss filed by the Defendants ... and the pending motion for judgment on the pleadings filed by the Intervenors.” Letter from Pl. to the Ct. 1 (July 8, 2011), ECF No. 105 (“ Pl.'s Additional Authority Letter ”) (citing Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc., ––– U.S. ––––, 131 S.Ct. 2653, 180 L.Ed.2d 544 (2011)). Defendant-intervenors filed a reply to this letter, and both defendants responded to this letter in their reply briefs. Def.-intervenor's Resp. to Pl.'s Supplemental Authority Letter (July 22, 2011), ECF No. 109; Defs. United States & U.S. Customs & Border Protection's Reply in Supp. of their Mot. to Dismiss For Failure to State a Claim upon Which Relief can be Granted 4–5 n. 3 (July 14, 2011), ECF No. 107; Def. U.S. Int'l Trade Comm'n's Reply to Pl.'s Br. in Opp'n to Mot. to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim 11–13 (July 14, 2011), ECF No. 108. Subsequently, plaintiff filed another notice, this time informing the court of a decision reached by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in a parallel action, in which plaintiff brought essentially the same claims it brings in this action, and requesting that the court transfer this action to that district court if subject matter jurisdiction is found lacking here.3 Pl.'s Notice of Supplemental Authority & Clarification of Relief Sought (Aug. 16, 2011), ECF No. 110 (citing Furniture Brands Int'l, Inc. v. U.S. Int'l Trade Comm'n, No. 11–00202, 804 F.Supp.2d 1, 2011 WL 3562890 (D.D.C. Aug. 15, 2011)). Only Customs replied to this second letter. Defs. United States & U.S. Customs & Border Protection's Resp. to Pl.'s Notice of Supplemental Authority & Clarification of Relief Sought (Aug. 30, 2011), ECF No. 111. Finally, plaintiff replied to Customs' response. Pl.'s Resp. to Customs' Filing Regarding Pl.'s Notice of Supplemental Authority & Clarification of Relief Sought (Sept. 6, 2011), ECF No. 112.4

II. Discussion

The CDSOA amended the Tariff Act of 1930 (“Tariff Act”) to provide for the distribution of funds from assessed antidumping and countervailing duties to persons...

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