Chinese Pencil Manufacturer Fails to Win Lower U.S. Duties

Chinese exporter Shandong Rongxin Import and Export Co. isn’t entitled to a lower antidumping duty rate on its cased pencils from China, the Commerce Department announced.

In a periodic duty review covering imports that entered the U.S. between December 2014 and November 2015, the Commerce Department determined that Rongxin hadn’t adequately overcome the presumption that it was controlled by the Chinese government.

The company therefore didn’t qualify for an individualized duty rate, and was stuck with the China-wide rate of 114.90%. The company sued at the U.S. Court of International Trade.

While the trade court rejected some of Rongxin’s arguments, ...