United States Court of International Trade

Court Denied Motion to File Brief as Amicus Curiae

Before the court in Changzhou Trina Solar Energy Co., Ltd. & Trina Solar (Changzhou) Science & Technology Co., Ltd. v. United States, Slip Op. 16-22, Consol. Court No. 15-68, was a motion by the Government of Canada and the Governments of Québec, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Saskatchewan (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Canadian Governments”) to jointly submit a brief in this matter as amicus curiae, pursuant to USCIT Rule 76.  This consolidated action arose from the United States Department of Commerce’s (“Commerce”) countervailing duty (“CVD”) investigation of certain crystalline silicon photovoltaic products (“solar panels”) from the People’s Republic of China (“China”).  The Governments sought to secure a favorable precedent for Canadian companies facing similar issues in a separate CVD proceeding from the solar panels – concerning supercalendered paper from Canada.

However, the Canadian Governments could have presented their specific challenges to Commerce’s decisions as “interested parties” by following the established procedures at the administrative level for the agency to consider their arguments in the first instance in the context of the relevant factual record specific to that proceeding.   Moreover, the Canadian Governments did not seek to “provide impartial information on matters of law about which there [is] doubt, especially in matters of public interest,” but were instead effectively seeking to advance their interests.  For these reasons, the Court denied the Canadian Governments’ motion to file a brief as amicus curiae.