Firm News & Events

Barnes/Richardson Client Receives De Minimis Rate in Hardwood Plywood Preliminary Determination

February 28, 2013


In its preliminary determination in the countervailing duty investigation on Hardwood and Decorative Plywood from the People’s Republic of China, the U.S. Department of Commerce found a de minimis (zero) subsidy rate for Barnes/Richardson’s client, Linyi City Dongfang Jinxin Economic & Trade Co., Ltd. The Department of Commerce assigned subsidy rates in the case ranging from de minimis to 27.16 percent.

While Barnes/Richardson attorneys commend the Department’s finding of a zero subsidy rate for Linyi City Dongfang Jinxin Economic & Trade Co., Ltd., they question the Department’s decision to apply a 22.63 percent subsidy rate to all separate rate companies in the investigation. Despite finding de minimis margins for the three mandatory respondents in the investigation, the Department assigned the 22.63 percent subsidy rate to the separate rate companies based on the failure of fifteen other unrelated companies to respond to the Department’s Quantity and Value Questionnaire.