On Monday, June 23, the Coalition for Fair Trade in Ceramic Tile (Coalition) filed a Complaint with the U.S. Court of International Trade (USCIT) following the Summons it filed on May 23, contesting certain aspects of the final determination issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) in its antidumping investigation of ceramic tile from India. The final determination was published by Commerce in the Federal Register as Ceramic Tile from India: Final Negative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances, 90 Fed. Reg. 17030.
In the Complaint, the Coalition challenged Commerce’s handling of the affiliates of the largest Indian exporters, Commerce’s accepting of new information during on-site verification, and Commerce’s handling of scrap in the tariff calculation.
“As we previously noted, by statute, Commerce is time-limited in its investigation, at a time when more trade remedy actions were launched than at any other point in Commerce’s history,” said Eric Astrachan, executive director of the Coalition. “We are truly sympathetic to the obstacles Commerce investigators faced, but we firmly believe Commerce didn’t have all the facts at hand to decide this case.”
“In particular, for their own financial well-being, we want the importer and distributor community to be aware that any finding resulting in an anti-dumping tariff should be retroactive to April 23, 2025,” added Mr. Astrachan. “That tariff may be substantial,” noted Andrew Whitmire, trade data analyst for the Tile Council of North America. “Anyone tracking the world prices for ceramic tile knows that once Commerce has all the requisite information, a dumping tariff is entirely possible.”
