U.S. Steel Group v. U.S.

• Decision Date: 29 August 2001
• Docket Number: SLIP OP. 01-110.,No. 99-08-00523.,99-08-00523.
• Parties: U.S. STEEL GROUP, a Unit of USX Corporation, et al., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES, Defendant. JSC Severstal, Defendant-Intervenor.
• Court: U.S. Court of International Trade

162 F.Supp.2d 676

U.S. STEEL GROUP, a Unit of USX Corporation, et al., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES, Defendant JSC Severstal, Defendant-Intervenor.

SLIP OP. 01-110.

No. 99-08-00523.

United States Court of International Trade.

August 29, 2001.

Dewey Ballantine LLP, Washington, DC (Michael H. Stein, Bradford L. Ward, Navin Joneja), for Plaintiffs.

Stuart E. Schiffer, Acting Assistant Attorney General, David M. Cohen, Director, Lucius B. Lau, Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Peter G. Kirchgraber, Attorney, Office of the Chief Counsel for Import Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, for Defendant, of counsel.

Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy LLP (Neil R. Ellis), for Defendant-Intervenor.

OPINION

POGUE, Judge.

On November 21, 2000, this Court issued U.S. Steel Group v. United States, 24 CIT ___, 123 F.Supp.2d 1365 (2000) ("U.S. Steel I"). That opinion ordered the Department of Commerce ("Commerce" or "the Department") to reconsider on remand its determination that a suspension agreement entered into with the Ministry of Trade of the Russian Federation ("the Agreement") was in the public interest and prevented price suppression or undercutting, as required by the statute. See 19 U.S.C. § 1673c(l)(1) (1994). Familiarity with that opinion is presumed.

The Court now reviews Commerce's Final Redetermination Pursuant to Court Remand ("Redetermination"). Jurisdiction lies under 28 U.S.C. § 1581(c).

Standard of Review

Commerce's Redetermination must be sustained unless it is "unsupported by substantial evidence on the record, or otherwise not in accordance with law." 19 U.S.C. § 1516a(b)(1)(B)(i).

Substantial evidence is "something less than the weight of the evidence." Consolo v. Federal Maritime Com., 383 U.S. 607, 620, 86 S.Ct. 1018, 16 L.Ed.2d 131 (1966). Nonetheless, Commerce must present "such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion." Consolidated Edison Co. v. NLRB, 305 U.S. 197, 229, 59 S.Ct. 206, 83 L.Ed. 126 (1938) (quoted in Gold Star Co. v. United States, 12 CIT 707, 709, 692 F.Supp. 1382, 1383-84 (1988), aff'd sub nom. Samsung Electronics Co. v. United States, 873 F.2d 1427 (Fed.Cir. 1989)). The possibility of drawing two inconsistent conclusions from the same evidence does not mean that the agency's finding is unsupported by substantial evidence. See Consolo, 383 U.S. at 620, 86 S.Ct. 1018. In other words, Commerce's determination will not be overturned merely because the plaintiff "is able to produce evidence ... in support of its own contentions and in opposition to the evidence supporting the agency's determination." Torrington Co. v. United States, 14 CIT 507, 514, 745 F.Supp. 718, 723 (1990) (internal quotation omitted), aff'd, 938 F.2d 1276 (Fed.Cir.1991).

Commerce's conclusions must in any event be "reached by `reasoned decisionmaking,' including an examination of the relevant data and a reasoned explanation supported by a stated connection between the facts found and the choice made." Electricity Consumers Resource Council v. Federal Energy Regulatory Com., 747 F.2d 1511, 1513 (D.C.Cir.1984) (citing Burlington Truck Lines, Inc. v. United States, 371 U.S. 156, 168, 83 S.Ct. 239, 9 L.Ed.2d 207 (1962)).

Discussion

I. Commerce's "Public Interest" Determination

Under the first prong of the statute, 19 U.S.C. § 1673c(l)(1)(A), Commerce may enter into a suspension agreement only if it is "satisfied that suspension of the investigation is in the public interest." 19 U.S.C. § 1673c(d)(1). In evaluating Commerce's determination that the Agreement is in the public interest, the Court first decides whether Commerce's interpretation of the statute is in accordance with law.

In the Redetermination, Commerce reads the statute to confer to it broad discretion in making a subsection (1) public interest determination. In support of this position, Commerce points to the lack of a definition of the "public interest" in both the statute and the legislative history, as well as the use of the word "satisfied," which it suggests connotes a highly subjective state of mind. See Redetermination at 14 & n. 23.

U.S. Steel does not deny that Commerce has broad discretion in making a public interest determination, but asserts that,

in analyzing the effects and benefits on the U.S. industry, the Department must take into account the alternatives available to the domestic industry in the absence of a suspension agreement. That is, the benefits to the U.S. industry should be evaluated relative to the effects of an antidumping duty investigation (and order) rather than by comparing the effects of the Suspension Agreement to no relief at all.

Pl.'s Comments at 16. Further, U.S. Steel argues that Commerce is required by the statute to explain how "other" factors it considered in making its public interest determination "outweigh the very real, direct and vital interests of the domestic steel industry." Id. at 18.

Commerce's broad understanding of "the public interest" accords with the clear intent of Congress. See Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 467 U.S. 837, 842-43, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984). The language of section 1673c(d)(1), "in the public interest," does not include any further limiting language, such as that of section 1673c(a)(2)(B), which requires Commerce to take three specific public interest factors into account.¹ See 19 U.S.C. § 1673c(a)(2)(B). Thus, the plain language of the statute indicates that Congress intended Commerce to have broad discretion in making its public interest determination, and this Court will not impose limits on Commerce's discretion that were not imposed by Congress. See Whitman v. Am. Trucking Ass'ns, 531 U.S. 457, 121 S.Ct. 903, 913, 149 L.Ed.2d 1 (2001) (finding an "intelligible principle" in various statutes authorizing regulation in the "public interest") (citing National Broadcasting Co. v. United States, 319 U.S. 190, 225-226, 63 S.Ct. 997, 87 L.Ed. 1344 (1943); New York Cent. Sec. Corp. v. United States, 287 U.S. 12, 24-25, 53 S.Ct. 45, 77 L.Ed. 138 (1932)).

Moreover, the Court finds no support in the legislative history for Plaintiffs argument that Commerce's discretion is limited by the interest of the domestic industry. Congress did state its intent that "investigations be suspended only when that action serves the interest of the public and the domestic industry affected," which could suggest that one of the factors Commerce must consider is the interest of the domestic industry.² See S.Rep. No. 96-249, at 71 (1979), reprinted in 1979 U.S.C.C.A.N. 381, 457. And a different part of the statute directs Commerce to suspend an investigation only if suspension is "more beneficial to the domestic industry" than the continuation of investigation. See 19 U.S.C. § 1673c(c)(2)(A)(i); see also S.Rep. No. 96-249, at 68 (1979), reprinted in 1979 U.S.C.C.A.N. at 454. Congress did not, however, apply this language to agreements with nonmarket economies under subsection (1). Thus, while the legislative history may indicate that a suspension agreement must benefit the domestic industry to be in the public interest, there is nothing to suggest that a suspension agreement must be more beneficial than an order, or that "other" factors must outweigh the interest of the domestic industry, in order for the agreement to be legal under the statute.

The Court next reviews whether Commerce's public interest determination is supported by substantial evidence, and whether Commerce adequately explained its conclusion that the Agreement is in the public interest. In the Redetermination, Commerce considers three public interest factors: U.S. producer and worker interests, consumer benefits of the suspension agreement, and the international economic interest of the United States. See Redetermination at 15-19.

U.S. Steel does not contest that the Agreement serves the interests of consumers and the international economic interest of the United States, but objects to Commerce's finding that the Agreement serves U.S. producer interests. U.S. Steel asserts that "where, as here, antidumping duty margins are so high as to be prohibitive, the certainty of no imports at all provided by an order is plainly preferable" to the Agreement, which allows in certain quantities of Russian steel. Pl.'s Comments at 17. U.S. Steel also argues that Commerce cannot claim a "market certainty" benefit, because the adjustment procedures that are part of the Agreement make it just as uncertain as an order subject to administrative review.³ See id.

While the domestic producers may prefer an antidumping order, as discussed above, Commerce is not required under the statute to provide substantial evidence that the Agreement serves the domestic producers' interest more than an order would; Commerce is rather required to provide substantial evidence that the Agreement is in the public interest. Similarly, it is not incumbent upon Commerce to provide substantial evidence that the Agreement is more stable and certain than an order (though Commerce makes this claim); rather, Commerce is required to provide substantial evidence that the Agreement achieves stability and certainty, and explain how stability and certainty serve the public interest.

Under this standard, Commerce's Redetermination withstands scrutiny. First, Commerce points to the price and quantity limits contained in the Agreement, which inherently introduce stability and certainty into the market. See Redetermination at 15-16. Stability and certainty benefit the domestic industry by allowing it "to invest and plan for future growth." Id. at 16. While, as U.S. Steel points out, the price limits are subject to adjustment, Commerce explains that the reference price mechanism in the Agreement creates certainty because it adjusts Russian steel prices to account for changes in the market, so that the price floor is maintained...