The U.S. Court of International Trade has officially upheld the Department of Commerce’s decision to penalize Nippon Steel Corporation for failing to provide complete sales data in a long-running antidumping investigation.
In a ruling issued April 8, 2026, Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves confirmed that the federal government was within its rights to use “adverse inferences” against the Japanese steel giant after it failed to hand over downstream sales information from its domestic affiliates.
The dispute stems from a 2018–2019 review of antidumping duties on hot-rolled steel flat products from Japan. Under U.S. law, companies must provide detailed pricing data to prove they aren’t “dumping” products—selling them at unfairly low prices—into the American market.
When Nippon Steel’s Japanese affiliates refused to provide that data, Commerce applied a higher tax rate, assuming the missing info would have been unfavorable to the company.
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The “Best of Its Ability” Conflict
Nippon Steel fought the penalty, arguing it had done everything legally possible to get the information. The company’s legal team claimed that under the Japanese Antimonopoly Act, they were prohibited from “threatening” or “abusing” their bargaining position to force these affiliates to comply.
They argued that because they only held a minority stake in one key affiliate, they lacked the leverage to demand the records.
However, the Court found Commerce’s rebuttal persuasive. Judge Choe-Groves noted that Nippon Steel had been aware of these compliance issues since at least 2018.
The ruling suggested that the company had “ample time” to build data-sharing requirements into its contracts or simply choose to do business with more cooperative partners.
The Ruling’s Key Findings
The court’s decision hinged on several critical factors:
- Japanese Law: The court agreed with Commerce that Japanese antitrust guidelines focus on preventing unfair competition, not on blocking the legitimate collection of data for international trade investigations.
- Past Patterns: Because this was the third consecutive review where the same data gaps appeared, the court ruled that simply “requesting the data several times” did not meet the legal standard of putting forth “maximum effort.”
- Alternate Solutions: The court noted that Nippon Steel could have had the affiliates submit the data directly to Commerce to protect proprietary secrets, but this step was not successfully executed.
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The decision effectively ends this chapter of the litigation, sustaining the Second Remand Redetermination.
It serves as a reminder to international exporters that U.S. courts expect companies to navigate their own corporate structures—and local laws—to meet the strict transparency requirements of the American trade system.
“Requesting the data several times was not the only action that Nippon Steel could have taken to induce compliance,” the court noted, signaling that “best of its ability” is a high bar to clear.
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