In December, the Federal Circuit issued an order in Mid Continent Steel & Wire, Inc. v. United States, a trade case we have been following because it attracted two amicus briefs. Before the Court reached a decision, the United States voluntarily moved to remand the case. In a per curiam order, Judges Taranto, Bryson, and Cunningham granted the motion and remanded the case to the Court of International Trade. Here is a summary of the order.
In the order, the panel explained the United States filed a motion informing the panel that “the Department of Commerce has abandoned the position on which it prevailed in this case in the United States Court of International Trade.” As a result, the government asked the panel “to remand the case for further remand to Commerce so that Commerce may consider an alternative methodology for analyzing whether there is ‘a pattern of export prices (or constructed export prices) for comparable merchandise that differ significantly among purchasers, regions, or period of time'” under the relevant statute.
The panel granted the motion, noting that remand is “consistent with ordinary practice when an agency has materially changed the policy directly at issue in the case, mooting the specific dispute presented on appeal. The panel stated that “Commerce should have the opportunity to set forth an alternative policy analysis, which may then be subject to judicial review.”