Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. United States, 81-112
| Decision Date | 04 December 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. 81-112,No. 81-7-00901.,81-112,81-7-00901. |
| Citation | 529 F. Supp. 664,2 CIT 254 |
| Parties | MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO. LTD., et al., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of International Trade |
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Collier, Shannon, Rill & Scott, Washington, D. C. (Paul D. Cullen and Robert L. Meuser, Washington, D. C., of counsel), for applicants for intervention.
Weil, Gotshal & Manges, New York City (A. Paul Victor, Stuart M. Rosen, Harry M. Davidow and Michael P. Maxwell, New York City), for plaintiffs Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Matsushita Electric Corp. of America, Panasonic Hawaii, Inc., and Panasonic Sales Co., a Div. of Matsushita Electric of Puerto Rico, Inc., Victor Co. of Japan and U. S. JVC Corp.
Sharretts, Paley, Carter & Blauvelt, P. C., New York City (Gail T. Cumins, New York City, of counsel), for plaintiffs Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., Sanyo Electric Inc., and Sanyo Manufacturing Corp.
Tanaka, Walders & Ritger, Washington, D. C. (H. William Tanaka and Lawrence R. Walders, Washington, D. C., of counsel), for plaintiffs Hitachi Ltd., Hitachi Sales Corp. of America, and Hitachi Sales Corp. of Hawaii.
Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin & Kahn, Washington, D. C. (Stephen L. Gibson and Rodney F. Page, Washington, D. C., of counsel), for plaintiffs Toshiba Corp., Toshiba America, Inc., and Toshiba Hawaii, Inc.
Baker & McKenzie, Washington, D. C. (Thomas P. Ondeck, Washington, D. C., of counsel), for plaintiff Mitsubishi Electric Corp.
Wender, Murase & White, New York City (Peter J. Gartland and Robert D. Piliero, New York City, of counsel), for plaintiff Sharp Electronics Corp.
Siegel, Mandell & Davidson, P. C., New York City (Brian Goldstein and Edward B. Ackerman, New York City, of counsel), for plaintiff General Corp. of Japan.
United States International Trade Commission, Office of the Gen. Counsel, Michael H. Stein, Gen. Counsel, Edward M. Lebow, Asst. Gen. Counsel, Washington, D. C., and Michael B. Jennison, Atty. Advisor, Washington, D. C., for the defendant United States.
Frederick L. Ikenson, P. C., Washington, D. C. (Frederick L. Ikenson and J. Eric Nissley, Washington, D. C., of counsel), and Philip J. Curtis, Glenview, Ill., for defendant-intervenor Zenith Radio Corp.
The Court is faced with a motion to intervene in this consolidated action. The action itself was brought by various importers and manufacturers of Japanese television receivers under 19 U.S.C. § 1516a to challenge the determination of the International Trade Commission (ITC) that an industry in the United States would be threatened with material injury if an antidumping order affecting television sets from Japan were to be modified or revoked.1
The applicants for intervention are the Committee to Preserve American Color Television (COMPACT); the Imports Committee, Tube Division, Electronic Industries Association (the Imports Committee); and three unions, the Independent Radionic Workers of America, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (referred to as the three unions).
Plaintiffs oppose the motion for intervention. The defendant United States took no position with respect to the Imports Committee, but supported the application of COMPACT and the three unions.
Intervention in this action is strictly controlled by statute2 and is limited to those who are "interested parties" and were "parties to the proceeding." 28 U.S.C. § 2631(j)(1)(B). That section provides in relevant part:
By virtue of 28 U.S.C. § 2631(k)(1) the term "interested party" is given the meaning set out in section 771(9) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1677(9)). The latter provision reads as follows:
Finally, the term "like product" is defined in section 771(10) of the Tariff Act of 1930, (19 U.S.C. § 1677(10)) as a product "which is like, or in the absence of like, most similar in characteristics and uses with, the article subject to an investigation under this title."
The second phrase of the standard for intervention — "party to the proceeding" is not further defined in the statute.
The Court finds that although the applicants may have interests affected by this judicial review they fall short of meeting the strictly defined statutory requirements for standing to intervene. COMPACT and the Import Committee lack standing because they are not "interested parties" within the meaning of the statute. The three unions lack standing because they did not become parties to the administrative proceeding within the meaning of the statute.
The members of COMPACT, as listed in the motion papers, are as follows:
Of this group of fourteen, only four are presented as having a direct involvement with finished television receivers. They are the three unions (who are also making a motion to intervene in their independent capacities) and Wells-Gardner Electronics Corp. The remainder are corporations or unions involved in the production of components or materials.
As a whole, COMPACT does not fit any of the definitions of "interested party." It is not a union or a group of workers because it includes corporate employers. This eliminates definition (D). It is not a trade or business association because of its union component. This eliminates definition (E). In any event, whatever its composite nature, COMPACT, in its entirety, does not have either the representative quality of a union in the specific industry engaged in the production of a like product or the involvement of an association of businesses in the manufacture of a like product.
In the context of this statute, the like product must be television receiving sets, because they are the product subject to investigation. The industry must be that industry engaged directly in the production of television sets because that is the industry whose injury is germane. Cf. United Shoe Workers v. Bedell, 506 F.2d 174 (D.C. Cir.1974). From this standpoint only a minority of COMPACT's members are union or worker representatives of the industry which produces television sets or actual manufacturers of the sets.
The Imports Committee is presented in the motion as an association of manufacturers in the United States television industry. Plaintiffs rely on an affidavit of the Chairman of the Imports Committee3 to show that it includes the following five companies:
Plaintiffs point out that only GTE Sylvania ever manufactured television sets, and even then it sold its production facilities in 1980, prior to the administrative determination which is the subject of this action. Even if GTE Sylvania were to be considered a manufacturer of television sets, the Import Committee still does not have a majority of members who manufacture a like product. It is therefore eliminated from definition (E).
This leaves the three unions, who assertedly represent the overwhelming majority of workers engaged in the manufacture and assembly of finished television receivers and whose status as "interested parties" is not disputed. However, plaintiffs interpose the objection that the unions were not parties to the proceeding within the meaning of the statute.
The defendant United States takes the delicate position that, while it does not urge that individual members of an umbrella organization always be considered parties for purposes of intervention in a later judicial proceeding, it finds justification in this case. It stresses the fact that the interests of the unions are coextensive with those of COMPACT, that they joined together with others solely for the purposes of the proceeding, that they were represented by the same attorneys and resemble a partnership in which the action of one binds the others.
These are arguments which have a vaguely equitable tone. However, this is not a matter in which the statute can be adjusted to fashion an equitable remedy in a particular case. See, Loveladies Property Owners Ass'n. Inc. v. Raab, 430 F.Supp. 276 (D.N.J.1975) aff'd, 547 F.2d 1162 ...
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