The Commerce Department usually gives the foreign company some flexibility in deciding on the order for presenting the various topics at the verification. In exercising this flexibility, the company and its lawyers should rely on several basic principles. First, the order of the presentation should be logical. The basic information about the company's accounting system and distribution system should be discussed early in the verification so that the Commerce Department staff can better understand the specific topics that arise later in the verification. If two topics are closely related, they probably should be presented together. The Commerce Department might become suspicious if related topics are discussed at separate times without any explanation.

Second, the foreign company generally should present its strongest points early in the verification. During the verification, the foreign company must persuade the Commerce Department to believe in the accounting system of the company, and in the reliability of the information that has been submitted. To win this trust, it is usually advisable to present those topics with the best supporting documentation early in the verification. The Commerce Department thus begins the verification with a good impression of the company and its accounting system.

Third, the foreign company should think carefully about the weak points in its verification presentation, and when best to present those points. At every verification, no matter how thoroughly the company prepares, there will be some weak points - topics where the supporting documentation is weak (or non-existent), or where careful scrutiny by the Commerce Department could lead to a rejection of a key argument that the company needs to win.

It is difficult to say when the best time is to present these difficult topics. Sometimes companies save such topics for the end of the day, when the Commerce Department staff members are tired. The risk, however, is that the Commerce Department staff members might decide to resume the same topic the next morning when they are rested and more alert. Sometimes companies save such topics for late in the verification, when the Commerce Department staff may not have much time to probe very carefully. The risk here is that the Commerce Department staff might decide that the topic cannot be verified in the time remaining and consider the verification to be a failure. The judgement about how best to present a weak point in a verification has to be made based on the circumstances of a particular case, and the particular Commerce Department staff assigned to the verification.

Source: Business Guide to Trade Remedies in the United States: Anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguards legislation practices and procedures