Hogan Lovells secures Court of International Trade victory for Brazilian wood mouldings producer Araupel S.A.

Washington, D.C., 14 July 2022 – Global law firm Hogan Lovells secured a victory for Brazilian wood mouldings producer Araupel S.A. at the Court of International Trade, fending off claims from the Coalition of American Millwork Producers aimed at inflicting anti-dumping duties on the manufacturers’ Brazilian competitors. The court’s final ruling, issued 15 June, can be found here.

In an opinion issued by Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves, the court sustained the U.S. Department of Commerce’s negative determination in the anti-dumping duty investigation on wood mouldings and millwork products coming from Brazil. The court also ruled that the Commerce Department had properly collapsed exporters Araupel and Braslumber Industria de Molduras into a single entity, rightly declining to apply the major input rule to certain log purchases. Additionally, the ruling upheld the Commerce Department’s decision to revise the company’s general and administrative expenses to account for fair value adjustments in the annual revaluation of standing trees in Araupel’s unharvested forests.

The victory at the CIT follows success at the administrative proceeding phase, where the Hogan Lovells team secured a negative determination for Araupel, which resulted in no duties for the entire Brazilian wood mouldings industry.

The Hogan Lovells team was led by International Trade & Investment partners Craig Lewis and Deen Kaplan, International Arbitration and Trade Advisor Maria A. Arboleda, and associate Greg Hawkins, all based in Washington, D.C.