Kobelco challenges antidumping ruling in US court

A Kobelco CK2750G-3 lattice boom crawler crane Photo: Kobelco

The filing, docketed as case #26-03741 (Kobelco Construction Machinery v. United States), follows the July 2026 imposition of antidumping duties on Japanese lattice boom crawler cranes after the ITC and the US Department of Commerce issued unanimous affirmative determinations. Kobelco was identified in the preliminary investigation as subject to a 2.79% weighted-average dumping margin.

“Our decision to seek judicial review reflects our commitment to protecting the interests of our customers, dealers, employees, and business partners while ensuring that the facts and legal issues are properly evaluated through the judicial process,” the company told Crane and Transport Briefing. “The companies believe that important factual and legal issues arising from the ITC’s determination warrant judicial review and have therefore elected to pursue the remedies available under US law.”

Kobelco’s complaint (see below), filed September 23 by counsel Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, lays out six counts challenging the ITC’s Final Determination.

Kobelco argues the ITC improperly excluded Link-Belt Cranes from its definition of the domestic industry, then applied contradictory reasoning to that same exclusion when declining to combine Link-Belt’s pricing data with Kobelco’s. The complaint contends the ITC’s underselling finding rested on pricing data covering only a small fraction of Kobelco’s 2025 US shipments, insufficient to support a finding of significant underselling.

On price suppression, Kobelco argues the ITC’s conclusion that subject imports forced Manitowoc to lower prices directly contradicts the ITC’s own finding that domestic prices increased uniformly throughout the period of investigation.

The complaint also challenges the ITC’s handling of what Kobelco calls a “natural experiment”: in 2022, Kobelco was virtually absent from the US market, yet Manitowoc’s financial performance was worse than in subsequent years when Kobelco’s presence grew; evidence Kobelco argues severs the causal link between its imports and any injury to the domestic industry.

Kobelco is seeking remand for a new determination consistent with the court’s findings.

Kobelco said the appeal does not affect its ongoing operations in the USA and that both entities will continue to serve customers through established sales, distribution, parts and service networks. The company did not comment on the specific legal issues to be addressed during litigation.

The original antidumping petition was filed by The Manitowoc Company in April 2025, alleging predatory pricing by Japanese producers. Kobelco is the first Japanese crane manufacturer to officially challenge the ruling; Link-Belt Cranes, a subsidiary of Japanese company Sumitomo Heavy Industries Construction Cranes, previously said it intended to challenge the DOC determination.

This story is developing. Check back for updates.