Essar Steel Ltd. v. United States, No. 13-1416 (Fed. Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseEssar manufactures steel in Chhattisgarh, India and imports hot-rolled carbon steel flat products into the U.S. In 2008, Commerce initiated an investigation of whether Essar received countervailable subsidies for its iron ore products in India for a 2007 review period. Commerce investigated Essar’s receipt of benefits from nine subsidies provided under “CIP,” a program administered by the government of Chhattisgarh. Essar repeatedly denied receiving CIP subsidies based on a claim that Essar did not have any manufacturing facilities in Chhattisgarh. The Department of Commerce found that Essar’s claims were contradicted by other information that Essar had supplied. During the fifth administrative review, the governments of India and Chhattisgarh failed to respond. Commerce therefore applied adverse facts available (AFA) in its final results and concluded that Essar did benefit from CIP. The Trade Court remanded to Commerce with instructions to explain how it corroborated the AFA rate for participation in the CIP or why corroboration was not practicable. Commerce explained that it applied a hierarchical methodology in selecting an AFA rate. The Trade Court found that Commerce had corroborated Essar’s AFA rate to the extent practicable under 19 U.S.C. 1677e(c) by utilizing calculated benefits from similar subsidy programs identified in the underlying countervailing duty investigation of hot-rolled carbon steel flat products from India. The Federal Circuit affirmed.
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