[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 1, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5145-5147]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-369]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

(A-549-822)


Notice of Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value and Antidumping Duty Order: Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from 
Thailand\1\
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    \1\ On January 21, 2005, the International Trade Commission 
(ITC) notified the Department of Commerce (the Department) of its 
final determination that two domestic like products exist for the 
merchandise covered by the Department's investigation: 1) certain 
non-canned warmwater shrimp and prawns; and 2) canned warmwater 
shrimp and prawns. The ITC determined that there is no injury or 
threat thereof to the U.S. domestic industry regarding imports of 
canned warmwater shrimp and prawns from Thailand; therefore, canned 
warmwater shrimp and prawns will not be covered by the antidumping 
duty order.
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AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 1, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Irina Itkin or Alice Gibbons, Import 
Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 
20230; telephone: (202) 482-0656 or (202) 482-0498, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Amendment to Final Determination

    In accordance with sections 735(a) and 777(i)(1) of the Tariff Act 
of 1930, as amended, (the Act), on December 23, 2004, the Department 
published its notice of final determination of sales at less than fair 
value (LTFV) in the investigation of certain frozen and canned 
warmwater shrimp from Thailand. See Notice of Final Determination of 
Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Negative Final Determination of 
Critical Circumstances: Certain Frozen and Canned Warmwater Shrimp from 
Thailand, 69 FR 76918 (Dec. 23, 2004) (Final Determination). On 
December 23, 2004, we received an allegation, timely filed pursuant to 
19 CFR 351.224(c)(2), from the petitioners (i.e., the Ad Hoc Shrimp 
Trade Action Committee, Versaggi Shrimp Corporation, and Indian Ridge 
Shrimp Company) that the Department made a ministerial error with 
respect to its exclusion of ``dusted'' shrimp from the scope of this 
investigation. On December 28, 2004, Eastern Fish Company, Inc., and 
Long John Silver's, Inc., interested parties in this investigation, 
submitted a response to the petitioners' December 23, 2004, ministerial 
error allegation. In addition, on December 30, 2004, we received 
allegations, timely filed pursuant to 19 CFR 351.224(c)(2), from the 
petitioners and the respondents (i.e., Andaman Seafood Co., Ltd., 
Chanthaburi Seafoods Co., Ltd., and Thailand Fishery Cold Storage 
Public Co., Ltd. (collectively, the Rubicon Group); Thai I-Mei Frozen 
Foods Co., Ltd. (Thai I-Mei); and the Union Frozen Products Co., Ltd. 
(UFP)) that the Department also made ministerial errors in the final 
margin calculations. On January 6, 2004, we received submissions 
containing rebuttal comments from the petitioners, the Rubicon Group, 
and UFP.
    After analyzing the Rubicon Group's, Thai I-Mei's, UFP's, and the 
petitioners' submissions, we have determined, in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.224(e), that we made the following ministerial errors in our 
calculations performed for the final determination:
 We unintentionally calculated more than one cost for the same 
control number (CONNUM) for the Rubicon Group in several instances;
 We inadvertently compared Thai baht-denominated commission 
expenses to those denominated in U.S. dollars for Thai I-Mei;
 We incorrectly applied weighted-average costs to merchandise 
for which the CONNUM was revised in the final determination, rather 
than using the actual verified costs for certain sales for Thai I-Mei. 
In correcting this error, we discovered that Thai I-Mei failed to 
report costs for certain of these re-coded products. Therefore, we 
based the costs for these products on facts available. As facts 
available, we used the average total cost of manufacturing of all 
CONNUMs;
 We recalculated the weighted-average selling expenses and 
constructed value profit rate for Thai I-Mei using the revised figures 
for the Rubicon Group and UFP; and
 We revised the calculation of general and administrative and 
interest expenses for UFP to exclude packaging costs (i.e., reported in 
the field PACK).
    Correcting these errors results in revised margins for the Rubicon 
Group and Thai I-Mei. In addition, we have revised the calculation of 
the ``all others'' rate accordingly.
    For a detailed discussion of the ministerial errors alleged by the 
petitioners and respondents, as well as the Department's analysis, see 
the January 24, 2005, memorandum to Louis Apple from the Team entitled 
``Ministerial Error Allegations in the Final Determination of the 
Antidumping Duty Investigation on Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from 
Thailand.''
    Therefore, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(e), we are amending 
the final

[[Page 5146]]

determination of sales at LTFV in the antidumping duty investigation of 
certain frozen warmwater shrimp from Thailand. The revised weighted-
average dumping margins are in the ``Antidumping Duty Order'' section, 
below.

Antidumping Duty Order

    In accordance with section 735(a) of the Act, the Department made 
its final determination that certain frozen and canned warmwater shrimp 
from Thailand is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States 
at LTFV. See Final Determination. On January 21, 2005, the ITC notified 
the Department of its final determination pursuant to section 
735(b)(1)(A)(I) of the Act that an industry in the United States is 
materially injured by reason of LTFV imports of subject merchandise 
from Thailand. In its final determination, however, the ITC determined 
that two domestic like products exist for the merchandise covered by 
the Department's investigation: 1) certain non-canned warmwater shrimp 
and prawns; and 2) canned warmwater shrimp and prawns. The ITC 
determined pursuant to section 735(b)(1) of the Act that a domestic 
industry in the United States is not materially injured or threatened 
with material injury by reason of imports of canned warmwater shrimp 
and prawns from Thailand. Therefore, the ITC's affirmative 
determination of material injury covered all non-canned warmwater 
shrimp and prawns other than those specifically excluded in the ``Scope 
of Order'' section, below. Accordingly, the scope of the antidumping 
duty investigation has been amended as described above to reflect the 
ITC's distinction between certain non-canned warmwater shrimp and 
prawns and canned warmwater shrimp and prawns. Specifically, canned 
warmwater shrimp and prawns are excluded from the scope of the order.
    In cases where the ITC specifically excludes a product in its final 
injury determination, the Department may exclude that product from its 
final margin calculation. See Antidumping Duty Orders; Certain 
Stainless Steel Plate in Coils from Belgium, Canada, Italy, the 
Republic of Korea, South Africa, and Taiwan, 64 FR 27756 (May 21, 
1999). However, because the respondents did not export or sell canned 
warmwater shrimp and prawns to the United States during the period of 
investigation (POI), no recalculation of the dumping margins is 
warranted, and therefore we are not amending the final determination 
calculations to exclude any sales of canned warmwater shrimp and prawn 
products.
    Therefore, in accordance with section 736(a)(1) of the Act, the 
Department will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to 
assess, upon further instruction by the Department, antidumping duties 
equal to the amount by which the normal value of the merchandise 
exceeds the export price or constructed export price of the merchandise 
for all relevant entries of certain frozen warmwater shrimp from 
Thailand. These antidumping duties will be assessed on all unliquidated 
entries of certain frozen warmwater shrimp from Thailand entered, or 
withdrawn from the warehouse, for consumption on or after August 4, 
2004, the date on which the Department published its Notice of 
Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
Postponement of Final Determination, and Negative Critical 
Circumstances Determination: Certain Frozen and Canned Warmwater Shrimp 
From Thailand, 69 FR 47100 (Aug. 4, 2004).
    On or after the date of publication of this antidumping duty order 
in the Federal Register, CBP will require, at the same time that 
importers would normally deposit estimated duties on this merchandise, 
a cash deposit equal to the estimated weighted-average antidumping duty 
margins as listed below. The ``all others'' rate applies to all 
exporters of subject merchandise not listed specifically. We determine 
that the following weighted-average margin percentages exist for the 
POI:

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                Manufacturer/exporter                     Original Final Margin         Amended Final Margin
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Andaman Seafood Co., Ltd............................                          5.79                          5.91
Chanthaburi Seafoods Co., Ltd.......................                          5.79                          5.91
Chanthaburi Frozen Food Co., Ltd....................                          5.79                          5.91
Phattana Seafood Co., Ltd...........................                          5.79                          5.91
S.C.C. Frozen Seafood Co., Ltd......................                          5.79                          5.91
Thai I-Mei Frozen Foods Co., Ltd....................                          6.20                          5.29
Thailand Fishery Cold Storage Public Co., Ltd.......                          5.79                          5.91
Thai International Seafood Co., Ltd.................                          5.79                          5.91
The Union Frozen Products Co., Ltd..................                          6.82                          6.82
Wales & Company Universe, Ltd.......................                          5.79                          5.91
Y2K Frozen Food Co., Ltd............................                          5.79                          5.91
All Others..........................................                          6.03                          5.95
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Scope of Order

    The scope of this order includes certain warmwater shrimp and 
prawns, whether frozen, wild-caught (ocean harvested) or farm-raised 
(produced by aquaculture), head-on or head-off, shell-on or peeled, 
tail-on or tail-off,\2\ deveined or not deveined, cooked or raw, or 
otherwise processed in frozen form.
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    \2\ ``Tails'' in this context means the tail fan, which includes 
the telson and the uropods.
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    The frozen warmwater shrimp and prawn products included in the 
scope of this order, regardless of definitions in the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States (HTS), are products which are processed 
from warmwater shrimp and prawns through freezing and which are sold in 
any count size.
    The products described above may be processed from any species of 
warmwater shrimp and prawns. Warmwater shrimp and prawns are generally 
classified in, but are not limited to, the Penaeidae family. Some 
examples of the farmed and wild-caught warmwater species include, but 
are not limited to, whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannemei), banana prawn 
(Penaeus merguiensis), fleshy prawn (Penaeus chinensis), giant river 
prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii), giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon), 
redspotted shrimp (Penaeus brasiliensis), southern brown shrimp 
(Penaeus subtilis), southern pink shrimp (Penaeus notialis), southern 
rough shrimp (Trachypenaeus curvirostris), southern white shrimp 
(Penaeus schmitti), blue shrimp (Penaeus stylirostris), western white 
shrimp (Penaeus occidentalis), and Indian white prawn (Penaeus 
indicus).

[[Page 5147]]

    Frozen shrimp and prawns that are packed with marinade, spices or 
sauce are included in the scope of this order. In addition, food 
preparations, which are not ``prepared meals,'' that contain more than 
20 percent by weight of shrimp or prawn are also included in the scope 
of this order.
    Excluded from the scope are: 1) breaded shrimp and prawns (HTS 
subheading 1605.20.10.20); 2) shrimp and prawns generally classified in 
the Pandalidae family and commonly referred to as coldwater shrimp, in 
any state of processing; 3) fresh shrimp and prawns whether shell-on or 
peeled (HTS subheading 0306.23.00.20 and 0306.23.00.40); 4) shrimp and 
prawns in prepared meals (HTS subheading 1605.20.05.10); 5) dried 
shrimp and prawns; 6) canned warmwater shrimp and prawns (HTS 
subheading 1605.20.10.40); 7) certain dusted shrimp; and 8) certain 
battered shrimp. Dusted shrimp is a shrimp-based product: 1) that is 
produced from fresh (or thawed-from-frozen) and peeled shrimp; 2) to 
which a ``dusting'' layer of rice or wheat flour of at least 95 percent 
purity has been applied; 3) with the entire surface of the shrimp flesh 
thoroughly and evenly coated with the flour; 4) with the non-shrimp 
content of the end product constituting between four and 10 percent of 
the product's total weight after being dusted, but prior to being 
frozen; and 5) that is subjected to individually quick frozen (``IQF'') 
freezing immediately after application of the dusting layer. Battered 
shrimp is a shrimp-based product that, when dusted in accordance with 
the definition of dusting above, is coated with a wet viscous layer 
containing egg and/or milk, and par-fried.
    The products covered by this order are currently classifiable under 
the following HTS subheadings: 0306.13.00.03, 0306.13.00.06, 
0306.13.00.09, 0306.13.00.12, 0306.13.00.15, 0306.13.00.18, 
0306.13.00.21, 0306.13.00.24, 0306.13.00.27, 0306.13.00.40, 
1605.20.10.10, and 1605.20.10.30. These HTS subheadings are provided 
for convenience and for customs purposes only and are not dispositive, 
but rather the written description of the scope of this order is 
dispositive.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, we are 
directing CBP to continue to suspend liquidation of all entries of 
certain frozen warmwater shrimp from Thailand. CBP shall require a cash 
deposit equal to the estimated amount by which the normal value exceeds 
the U.S. price as indicated in the chart above. CBP shall discontinue 
the suspension of liquidation on canned shrimp products and refund any 
cash deposits made or bonds posted with respect to this merchandise. 
These instructions suspending liquidation will remain in effect until 
further notice. This amended determination and order is issued and 
published pursuant to section 735(d), 736(a) of the Act, and 19 CFR 
351.211.

    Dated: January 26, 2005.
Joseph A. Spetrini,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. E5-369 Filed 1-31-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE: 3510-DS-S