Barcode : 4326250-02 A-533-889 REV - Admin Review 12 / 13 / 19 - 5 / 31 / 21
were accurate . 139 While Antique Group attempts to minimize the importance of supporting documentation , Commerce considers this information equally as important as the data that are collected because , without it , Commerce cannot be certain that the data are accurately reported . While Commerce does not seek supporting documentation for all reported sales and cost data , the sample information that is requested is presumed to be representative of all supporting documentation and , therefore , demonstrative of the accuracy and reliability of the data . As is demonstrated in the second supplemental questionnaire , supporting documentation initially submitted oftentimes results in the identification of discrepancies and inaccuracies in the data that must then be remedied . Thus , while the supporting documentation may not be directly necessary to calculate a margin , without the requested information , Commerce has no basis upon which to conclude that the related data are accurate . By extension , because a review of Antique Group ’ s initial questionnaire responses led Commerce to request a variety of clarification questions on supporting documentation , this too means that , without it , Commerce cannot conclude that any calculations using the data that are on the record would result in an accurate margin for Antique Group . Accordingly , weighing the record information as it presently stands , Commerce finds that there is no basis to conclude that any dumping margin calculated for Antique Group would be accurate or reliable . To the contrary , the number of unresolved discrepancies indicates that any such margin would be unreliable and inaccurate .
Consequently , Commerce is applying facts available under section 776 ( a ) of the Act because necessary information is not available on the record . Moreover , Commerce is applying an adverse inference under section 776 ( b ) of the Act because Antique Group did not cooperate to the best of its ability , as it was careless or inattentive when reviewing the deadlines for its submissions .
We also note that , as the CAFC discussed in Mukand , it may be appropriate to use “… partial AFA to fill gaps in a record that otherwise contains useable data and is incomplete with respect to only a discrete category of information ” but , “{ i } n contrast , Commerce applies total AFA when none of the reported data is reliable or usable because , for example the data contains { sic } pervasive and persistent deficiencies that cut across the entire record .” 140 The respondent in Mukand failed to provide reliable cost data , which , the CAFC concluded , meant that Commerce was unable to conduct a variety of analyses that are fundamental to the calculation of a dumping margin . 141 The CAFC continued by stating that , “ Commerce thus reasonably concluded that Mukand ’ s submissions were so incomplete that they could not be used without undue difficulty .” 142 We also highlight that , like in this case , the respondent in Mukand had submitted complete responses but then argued that the deficiencies within the data were of no matter to the analysis . As the CAFC concluded , they were , in fact , important deficiencies that rendered all the data unreliable and , by extension , the respondent ’ s failure to correct them demonstrated its failure to cooperate to the best of its ability . Just as in Mukand , Commerce provided Antique Group an opportunity to remedy the deficiencies in its initial reporting , but Antique Group failed to submit its response within the established deadline . This is not a matter of a small amount of missing data that Commerce could have easily added on its own or simply divined from the
139
See , e . g ., Antique Group Second Supplemental Questionnaire at 2 , 7 , and 12 .
140
See Mukand Ltd . v . United States , 767 F . 3d 1300 , 1305 ( Fed . Cir . 2014 ) ( Mukand ).
141
Id ., 767 F . 3d at 1307 .
142
Id ., 767 F . 3d at 1307-08 .
31 Filed By : David Lindgren , Filed Date : 1 / 3 / 23 1:27 PM , Submission Status : Approved