[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 154 (Monday, August 11, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47538-47540]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-20319]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-874]


Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: 
Polyvinyl Alcohol from the People's Republic of China

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 11, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Eastwood or Alice Gibbons at 
(202) 482-3874 and (202) 482-0498, respectively, AD/CVD Enforcement, 
Office 2, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Final Determination:

    We determine that polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) from the People's 
Republic of China (PRC) is being sold, or is likely to be sold, in the 
United States at less than fair value (LTFV), as provided in section 
735 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The estimated 
margins of sales at LTFV are shown in the ``Suspension of Liquidation'' 
section of this notice.

Background

    The preliminary determination in this investigation was issued on 
March 14, 2003. See Notice of Preliminary Determination of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination: Polyvinyl 
Alcohol from the People's Republic of China, 68 FR 13674 (March 20, 
2003) (Preliminary Determination). Since the preliminary determination, 
the following events have occurred.
    With respect to scope, on March 3, 2003, the petitioners agreed to 
revise the scope of the companion case on PVA from Japan to exclude 
certain types of PVA covalently bonded with diacetoneacrylamide. The 
petitioners' submission was made in response to a request by Japan VAM 
and POVAL Co., Ltd., one of the mandatory respondents in the companion 
Japanese case.
    Because these comments relate to PVA in general, we find that they 
are applicable to this proceeding. Accordingly, as we did in the 
preliminary determination, we have modified the scope to conform to 
that set forth in the companion Japanese proceeding, as described in 
the ``Scope of the Investigation'' section of this notice below. See 
Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: 
Polyvinyl Alcohol from Japan, 68 FR 19510 (April 21, 2003).
    In March and April 2003, we conducted verification of the 
questionnaire responses of the sole participating respondent in this 
case, Sinopec Sichuan Vinylon Works (SVW).
    We gave interested parties an opportunity to comment on the 
preliminary determination. In May, we received case and rebuttal briefs 
from the petitioners (Celanese Chemicals Ltd. and E.I. Dupont de 
Nemours & Company) and SVW. The Department held a public hearing on May 
29, 2003, at the request of SVW.

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is PVA. This product 
consists of all PVA hydrolyzed in excess of 80 percent, whether or not 
mixed or diluted with commercial levels of defoamer or boric acid, 
except as noted below.
    The following products are specifically excluded from the scope of 
this investigation:
1) PVA in fiber form.
2) PVA with hydrolysis less than 83 mole percent and certified not for 
use in the production of textiles.
3) PVA with hydrolysis greater than 85 percent and viscosity greater 
than or equal to 90 cps.
4) PVA with a hydrolysis greater than 85 percent, viscosity greater 
than or equal to 80 cps but less than 90 cps, certified for use in an 
ink jet application.
5) PVA for use in the manufacture of an excipient or as an excipient in 
the manufacture of film coating systems which are components of a drug 
or dietary supplement, and accompanied by an end-use certification.
6) PVA covalently bonded with cationic monomer uniformly present on all 
polymer chains in a concentration equal to or greater than one mole 
percent.
7) PVA covalently bonded with carboxylic acid uniformly present on all 
polymer chains in a concentration equal to or greater than two mole 
percent, certified for use in a paper application.
8) PVA covalently bonded with thiol uniformly present on all polymer 
chains, certified for use in emulsion polymerization of non-vinyl 
acetic material.
9) PVA covalently bonded with paraffin uniformly present on all polymer 
chains in a concentration equal to or greater than one mole percent.
10) PVA covalently bonded with silan uniformly present on all polymer 
chains certified for use in paper coating applications.
11) PVA covalently bonded with sulfonic acid uniformly present on all 
polymer chains in a concentration level equal to or greater than one 
mole percent.
12) PVA covalently bonded with acetoacetylate uniformly present on all 
polymer chains in a concentration level equal to or greater than one 
mole percent.
13) PVA covalently bonded with polyethylene oxide uniformly present on 
all polymer chains in a concentration level equal to or greater than 
one mole percent.
14) PVA covalently bonded with quaternary amine uniformly present on 
all polymer chains in a concentration level equal to or greater than 
one mole percent.
15) PVA covalently bonded with diacetoneacrylamide uniformly present on 
all polymer chains in a concentration level greater than three mole 
percent, certified for use in a paper application.
    The merchandise under investigation is currently classifiable under 
subheading 3905.30.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States (HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheading is provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the 
merchandise under investigation is dispositive.

Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation is January 1, 2002, through June 30, 
2002, which corresponds to the two most recent fiscal quarters prior to 
the month of the

[[Page 47539]]

filing of the petition (i.e., September 2002).

Nonmarket Economy Status for the PRC

    The Department has treated the PRC as a nonmarket economy (NME) 
country in all past antidumping investigations. See, e.g., Notice of 
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Pure Magnesium in 
Granular Form from the People's Republic of China, 66 FR 49345, 49346 
(September 27, 2001). A designation as a NME remains in effect until it 
is revoked by the Department. See section 771(18)(C) of the Act. No 
party in this investigation has requested a revocation of the PRC's NME 
status. Therefore, we have continued to treat the PRC as an NME in this 
investigation. For further details, see Preliminary Determination, 68 
FR at 13676.

Separate Rate

    In our preliminary determination, we found that SVW had met the 
criteria for receiving a separate antidumping rate. We have not 
received any information since the preliminary determination which 
would warrant reconsideration of our separate-rate determination with 
respect to this company. Therefore, we continue to find that SVW should 
be assigned an individual dumping margin.

Surrogate Country

    For purposes of the final determination, we continue to find that 
India is the appropriate primary surrogate country for the PRC. For 
further discussion and analysis regarding the surrogate country 
selection for the PRC, see Preliminary Determination, 68 FR at 13679.

PRC-Wide Rate and Use of Facts Otherwise Available

    As explained in the Department's Preliminary Determination, SVW was 
the only exporter to respond to the Department's questionnaire and 
cooperate in this investigation. Therefore, we have continued to 
calculate a company-specific rate for SVW only. However, in the 
preliminary determination, we stated that our review of U.S. import 
statistics from the PRC revealed that SVW did not account for all 
imports into the United States from the PRC. For this reason, we 
determined that some PRC exporters of subject merchandise failed to 
cooperate in this investigation. In accordance with our standard 
practice, as adverse facts available, we are assigning as the PRC-wide 
rate the higher of: (1) the highest margin listed in the notice of 
initiation; or (2) the margin calculated for SVW. See, e.g., Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Cold-Rolled 
Flat-Rolled Carbon Quality Steel Products From The People's Republic of 
China, 65 FR 34660 (May 31, 2000), and accompanying decision memorandum 
at Comment 1. For purposes of the final determination of this 
investigation, we are using the margin stated in the notice of 
initiation (i.e., 97.86 percent) as adverse facts available because it 
is higher than the margin we calculated for SVW.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case briefs by parties to this proceeding 
and to which we have responded are listed in the Appendix to this 
notice and addressed in the Decision Memorandum, which is adopted by 
this notice. Parties can find a complete discussion of all issues 
raised in this investigation and the corresponding recommendations in 
this public memorandum, which is on file in the Central Records Unit, 
room B-099, of the main Department building. In addition, a complete 
version of the Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly on the Web 
at http://ia.ita.doc.gov. The paper copy and electronic version of the 
Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of comments received, we have made certain 
changes to the margin calculations. For a discussion of these changes, 
see the ``Margin Calculations'' section of the Decision Memorandum.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, we verified the 
information submitted by the respondent for use in our final 
determination. We used standard verification procedures including 
examination of relevant accounting and production records, and original 
source documents provided by the respondent.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, we are 
directing the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (BCBP) to 
continue to suspend liquidation of all entries of PVA from the PRC, 
except for PVA exported by SVW, that are entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after March 20, 2003, the date of 
publication of our preliminary determination. Regarding SVW, we have 
calculated a margin for this final determination which is not de 
minimis. Therefore, we are directing the BCBP to begin suspending 
liquidation of entries of PVA exported by SVW that are entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of 
publication of this determination in the Federal Register. The BCBP 
shall require a cash deposit or the posting of a bond equal to the 
estimated amount by which the normal value exceeds the U.S. price as 
shown below. These instructions suspending liquidation will remain in 
effect until further notice.
    The dumping margins are provided below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Margin
                 Manufacturer/exporter                  [chyph](percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sinopec Sichuan Vinylon Works.........................             7.40
PRC-wide..............................................            97.86
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The PRC-wide rate applies to all entries of the subject merchandise 
except for entries from SVW.

Disclosure

    We will disclose the calculations performed within five days of the 
date of publication of this notice to parties in this proceeding in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

ITC Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we have notified the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of our determination. As our final 
determination is affirmative, the ITC will, within 45 days, determine 
whether these imports are materially injuring, or threaten material 
injury to, the U.S. industry. If the ITC determines that material 
injury or threat of material injury does not exist, the proceeding will 
be terminated and all securities posted will be refunded or canceled. 
If the ITC determines that such injury does exist, the Department will 
issue an antidumping duty order directing the BCBP to assess 
antidumping duties on all imports of the subject merchandise entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the effective 
date of the suspension of liquidation.

Notification Regarding APO

    This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305. Timely notification of return/
destruction of APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order 
is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and the 
terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.

[[Page 47540]]

    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: August 4, 2003.
Joseph A. Spetrini,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Grant Aldonas, Under Secretary.

Appendix Issues in the Decision Memorandum

Comments

1. Valuation of an Input Supplied by a Joint Venture Partner
2. Treatment of Acetylene Tail Gas as Co-Product vs. By-Product
3. Cost Allocation Methodology for Acetylene and Acetylene Tail Gas
4. Adjustment of Factors of Production for Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM)
5. Surrogate Value for Activated Carbon
6. Surrogate Value for Natural Gas
7. Valuation of N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone (NMP)
8. Clerical Error in the Preliminary Determination
9. Application of a By-Product Credit in the Calculation of the 
Surrogate Financial Ratios
10. Adjustments to the Surrogate Financial Ratios for Differences in 
Integration Levels
11. Surrogate Value for Ocean Freight
[FR Doc. 03-20319 Filed 8-8-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S