The U.S. Court of International Trade has ruled that individually quick frozen (IQF) cooked garlic cloves imported by Export Packers Company Limited are not covered by the U.S. antidumping duty order on fresh garlic from China.
The decision follows a legal challenge by Export Packers against an earlier scope ruling issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce in February 2024. In that ruling, the department had determined that the company's IQF cooked garlic cloves were subject to the antidumping duty order.
Export Packers appealed the decision, arguing that its product differs from the fresh garlic covered by the order. In April 2025, the court sent the case back to the Department of Commerce for reconsideration.
In its review, the court stated that the product in question is "clearly prepared by heat processing and physically transformed by that process," and therefore differs from garlic products examined in earlier scope rulings.
Following the court's instructions, the Department of Commerce issued a revised determination in December 2025, finding that the IQF cooked garlic cloves imported by Export Packers fall outside the scope of the antidumping order. The department issued this conclusion under protest.
On February 23, 2026, the court confirmed and upheld the revised determination.
As a result of the ruling, the Department of Commerce has notified the public that its earlier scope decision is no longer valid for this product. The agency also confirmed that the court's decision is not in harmony with the original ruling.
The department has instructed U.S. Customs and Border Protection that the cash deposit rate for imports of IQF cooked garlic cloves from Export Packers will be set at zero per cent while any further appeals remain possible.
If the court's decision is not appealed or is upheld in further proceedings, customs authorities will lift the suspension of liquidation on these imports. Entries of IQF cooked garlic cloves imported by Export Packers would then be processed without the application of antidumping duties.
The case concerns the interpretation of the existing antidumping duty order on fresh garlic from China and whether processed garlic products fall within its scope. The court determined that the cooked and frozen garlic cloves examined in the case are sufficiently different from fresh garlic products covered by the order.
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