[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 29 (Monday, February 13, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7515-7517]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-1985]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-878]


Saccharin from the People's Republic of China: Final Results and 
Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

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

SUMMARY: On August 8, 2005, the Department of Commerce (``the 
Department'') published the preliminary results of the administrative 
review of the antidumping duty order on saccharin from the People's 
Republic of China. See Saccharin from the People's Republic of China: 
Preliminary Results and Partial Recession of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review, 70 FR 45657 (August 8, 2005) (``Preliminary 
Results''). The period of review is December 27, 2002, through June 30, 
2004.
    We invited interested parties to comment on our Preliminary 
Results. Based on our analysis of the comments received, we have made 
certain changes to our calculations. Therefore, the final results 
differ from the Preliminary Results. The final weighted-average dumping 
margin for the reviewed company is listed in the ``Final Results of the 
Review'' section below.

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 13, 2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Moats or Blanche Ziv, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office 8, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
5047 or (202) 482-4207, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 8, 2005, the Department published the preliminary results 
of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on saccharin 
from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''). See Preliminary Results. 
Since the publication of the preliminary results, the following events 
have occurred.
    On August 29, 2005, Shanghai Fortune Chemical Co., Ltd. (``Shanghai 
Fortune'') requested a hearing pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c). On 
December 22, 2005, Shanghai Fortune withdrew its request for a hearing. 
See Memorandum to the File from Ann Fornaro Through Blanche Ziv 
``Withdrawal of Hearing Request,'' dated December 22, 2005, which is 
available in the Central Records Unit (``CRU'') in Room B-099 of the 
main Commerce building. As there were no other requests for a hearing, 
the Department did not hold a hearing in this proceeding.
    On August 31, 2005, the Department received submissions on 
surrogate value data from the petitioner, PMC Specialties Group 
(``Petitioner''), and Shanghai Fortune. On September 12, 2005, the 
Department received timely filed information for rebuttal and 
clarification from Petitioner.
    On August 22, 2005, Shanghai Fortune submitted its response to the 
remaining information requested by the Department in its supplemental 
questionnaire issued on July 22, 2005. The first portion of this 
supplemental questionnaire was submitted on July 26, 2005. See Shanghai 
Fortune's ``Saccharin from the People's Republic of China; Submission 
of Shanghai Fortune's Seventh Supplemental Response,'' dated July 26, 
2005.\1\
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    \1\ For discussion of previous supplemental questionnaire 
responses, see Preliminary Results, 70 FR at 45658.
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    On December 5, 2005, the Department published a notice in the 
Federal Register extending the time limit for the final results until 
February 6, 2006. See Notice of Extension of Time Limit for Final 
Results of Administrative Review: Saccharin From the People's Republic 
of China, 70 FR 72424 (December 5, 2005).
    On December 13, 2005, the Department received case briefs from the 
Petitioner and Shanghai Fortune. On December 20, 2005, the Department 
received rebuttal briefs from Petitioner and Shanghai Fortune.
    On January 19, 2006, the Department placed updated surrogate value 
information on the record of this review in order to allow parties an 
opportunity to comment on the new information. See Memorandum to the 
File From Jennifer Moats ``Updated Surrogate Value Information,'' dated 
January 19, 2006. On January 23, 2006, the Department received timely 
filed comments on surrogate values from Petitioner and Shanghai 
Fortune.
    On January 19, 2006, the Department issued a supplemental 
questionnaire to Shanghai Fortune requesting information on certain by-
products that it claimed to have produced and sold during the POR. On 
January 20, 2006, the Department issued an additional supplemental 
questionnaire to Shanghai Fortune requesting further information on 
certain by-products at issue. On January 24, 2006, the Department 
received a timely filed response to these supplemental questionnaires 
from Shanghai Fortune.
    We have conducted this review in accordance with section 751 of the 
Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act''), and 19 CFR 351.213.

Scope of the Order

    The product covered by this antidumping duty order is saccharin. 
Saccharin is defined as a non-nutritive sweetener used in beverages and 
foods, personal care products such as toothpaste, table top sweeteners, 
and animal feeds. It is also used in

[[Page 7516]]

metalworking fluids. There are four primary chemical compositions of 
saccharin: (1) Sodium saccharin (American Chemical Society Chemical 
Abstract Service (``CAS'') Registry 128-44-44); (2) calcium 
saccharin (CAS Registry 6485-34-34); (3) acid (or insoluble) 
saccharin (CAS Registry 81-07-07); and (4) research grade 
saccharin. Most of the U.S.-produced and imported grades of saccharin 
from the PRC are sodium and calcium saccharin, which are available in 
granular, powder, spray-dried powder, and liquid forms.
    The merchandise subject to this order is currently classifiable 
under subheading 2925.11.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (``HTSUS'') and includes all types of saccharin imported 
under this HTSUS subheading, including research and specialized grades. 
Although the HTSUS subheading is provided for convenience and customs 
purposes, the Department's written description of the scope of this 
order remains dispositive.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the post-preliminary comments submitted by 
parties in this review are addressed in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum, dated February 6, 2006, (``Decision Memorandum'') which is 
hereby adopted by this notice. A list of the issues which parties 
raised and to which we respond in the Decision Memorandum is attached 
to this notice as an Appendix. The Decision Memorandum is a public 
document which is on file in the CRU in Room B-099 of the main Commerce 
building and is accessible on the Web at http://ia.ita.doc.gov/. The 
paper copy and electronic version of the memorandum are identical in 
content.

Partial Recession of Administrative Reviews

    In the Preliminary Results, the Department issued a notice of 
intent to rescind the administrative reviews with respect to Daiwa 
Kenko Company Limited (``Daiwa-Kenko''), Kenko Corporation, and 
Productos Aditivos, S.A. (``Productos Aditivos'') because we found no 
evidence that these companies made shipments of subject merchandise 
during the POR. See Preliminary Results, 70 FR at 45659. The Department 
received no comments on this issue, and we did not receive any further 
information since the issuance of the Preliminary Results that provides 
a basis for reconsideration of this determination. Therefore, the 
Department is rescinding this administrative review with respect to 
Daiwa-Kenko, Kenko Corporation, and Productos Aditivos.

Separate Rates

    In our Preliminary Results, we determined that Shanghai Fortune met 
the criteria for the application of a separate rate. We determined that 
Suzhou Fine Chemicals Group Co. (``Suzhou Chemicals''), Kaifeng Xinghua 
Fine Chemical Factory (``Kaifeng Chemical''), Tianjin North Food, 
Tianjin Changjie Chemical Co., Ltd. (``Tianjin Changjie''), and Beta 
Udyog Ltd. (``Beta Udyog'') did not qualify for a separate rate and, 
therefore, are deemed to be included in the PRC-entity rate. See 
Preliminary Results, 70 FR at 45660-62. The Department received no 
comments on this issue, and we did not receive any further information 
since the issuance of the Preliminary Results that provides a basis for 
reconsideration of these determinations. Therefore, for the Final 
Results, the Department included Suzhou Chemicals, Kaifeng Chemical, 
Tianjin Changjie, and Beta Udyog in the PRC-entity.

The PRC-Wide Rate and Use of Adverse Facts Available

Suzhou Chemicals, Kaifeng Chemical, Tianjin North Food, Tianjin 
Changjie, and Beta Udyog

    In the Preliminary Results, we determined that the PRC-entity did 
not respond to the questionnaire and, therefore, failed to cooperate to 
the best of its ability in this administrative review. Accordingly, we 
determined that the use of facts otherwise available in reaching our 
determination is appropriate pursuant to sections 776(a)(2)(A) and (B) 
of the Act and that the use of an adverse inference in selecting from 
the facts available is appropriate pursuant to section 776(b) of the 
Act. In accordance with the Department's practice, as adverse facts 
available, we assigned to the PRC-entity the rate of 329.33 percent. 
For detailed information on the Department's corroboration of this 
rate, see Preliminary Results, 70 FR at 45662. The Department received 
no further information or comments on this issue since the issuance of 
the Preliminary Results that provides a basis for reconsideration of 
this determination. Therefore, we continued to assign the PRC-entity 
the rate of 329.33 percent for the Final Results.

Other Changes Since the Preliminary Results

    Based on our analysis of information on the record of this review 
and comments received from the interested parties, we have made changes 
to the margin calculations for Shanghai Fortune.
    We have also revalued several of the surrogate values used in the 
Preliminary Results. The values that were modified for these final 
results are those for ammonia water, liquid chlorine, steam coal, 
sulfur dioxide, and activated carbon. In the Preliminary Results, we 
determined that India is the preferred surrogate country for purposes 
of calculating the factors of production. See Section 773(c)(4) of the 
Act. While India remains our primary surrogate country for this review, 
we found the publicly available information in India for sulfur dioxide 
to be unreliable because of small quantities and aberrant values. As 
such, we used data from Indonesia to value this input. The use of a 
secondary source country when data from the primary surrogate country 
is unreliable is consistent with the Department's practice. See Certain 
Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from Romania: Final Results of 
Antidumping Dtuy Administrative Review, 70 FR 34448 (June 14, 2005), 
and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 2, and 
Chrome-Plated Lug Nuts from the PRC; Final Results of the Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Review, 61 FR 58514, 58517-18 (November 15, 1996). 
For further details see ``Factors Valuations for the Final Results of 
the Administrative Review,'' dated February 6, 2006.
    In the Preliminary Results, because of the lack of clarity in 
Shanghai Fortune's responses as to whether its phthalic anhydride was 
supplied from a market economy, the Department used surrogate values to 
value all of Shanghai Fortune's reported factors. See Preliminary 
Results at 45664 and Memorandum to the File From Steve Williams Through 
Brian Ledgerwood ``Preliminary Results of First Administrative Review 
of Saccharin from the People's Republic of China (PRC): Analysis of 
Shanghai Fortune Chemical Co., Ltd.,'' which is available in the CRU in 
Room B-099 of the main Commerce building. Subsequent to the 
Department's Preliminary Results, Shanghai Fortune clarified that the 
phthalic anhydride inputs used in its production of subject merchandise 
during the POR were, in fact, sourced from a market economy country and 
paid for in a market economy currency. See Shanghai Fortune's 
``Saccharin from the People's Republic of China; Submission of Publicly 
Available Data For Use As Surrogate Values,'' dated August 31, 2005, at 
page 13. When a

[[Page 7517]]

non-market economy producer purchases an input from market economy 
suppliers and pays for that input in a market economy currency, the 
Department normally uses the actual price paid for these inputs, where 
possible. See 19 CFR 351.408(c)(1). Because Shanghai Fortune provided 
sufficient documentation on the record of this review demonstrating 
that the phthalic anhydride used was sourced from a market economy and 
paid for in a market economy currency, we are using the actual average 
price paid by Shanghai Fortune for this input for the final results. 
For further details, see Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 3, 
and Memorandum to the File From Jennifer Moats Through Wendy Frankel 
``Analysis for the Final Results of the Administrative Review of the 
Antidumping Duty Order on Saccharin from the People's Republic of 
China: Shanghai Fortune Chemical Co., Ltd. (``Shanghai Fortune Final 
Analysis Memo''),'' dated February 6, 2006, which is available in the 
CRU in Room B-099 of the main Commerce building.
    Since our issuance of the Preliminary Results, we have reviewed our 
calculations of surrogate values and found some to contain clerical 
errors, which we have corrected for the Final Results. These values are 
for the products sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, sodium bicarbonate, 
sodium hypochlorite, cardboard drums and cartons, inner plastic bags, 
plastic film, and pallets. For further details, see ``Factors 
Valuations for the Final Results of the Administrative Review,'' dated 
February 6, 2006.
    For further information detailing all of the changes to Shanghai 
Fortune's calculations in the final results, see Shanghai Fortune Final 
Analysis Memo.

Final Results of the Review

    The Department has determined that the following final dumping 
margins exist for the period December 27, 2002, through June 30, 2004:

                         Saccharin from the PRC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Weighted-Average
           Producer/Manufacturer/Exporter              Margin (Percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shanghai Fortune Chemical Co., Ltd..................              17.05%
PRC-Wide Entity \2\.................................             329.33%
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ The PRC-wide entity includes: Suzhou Fine Chemicals Group Co.,
  Kaifeng Xinghua Fine Chemical Factory, Tianjin North Food, Tianjin
  Changjie Chemical Co., Ltd., and Beta Udyog Ltd.

    The Department will disclose calculations performed for these final 
results to the parties within five days of the date of publication of 
this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Duty Assessment and Cash-Deposit Requirements

    The Department will determine, and U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (``CBP'') shall assess, antidumping duties on all 
appropriate entries. The Department will issue appropriate assessment 
instructions directly to CBP within 15 days of publication of the final 
results of this review. For assessment purposes, we calculated 
exporter/importer (or customer)-specific assessment rates or values for 
merchandise subject to this review. Because Shanghai Fortune reported 
entered values, for these final results, we divided the total dumping 
margins for the reviewed sales by the total entered value for the 
reviewed sales for each applicable importer. For duty-assessment rates 
calculated on this basis, we will direct CBP to assess the resulting 
percentage margin against the entered customs values for the subject 
merchandise on each of the applicable importer's/customer's entries 
during the review period.
    Further, the following cash-deposit requirements will be effective 
upon publication of these final results of the administrative review 
for shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date of the 
final results, as provided by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) For 
subject merchandise exported by Shanghai Fortune, the cash-deposit rate 
will be 17.05 percent; (2) for previously reviewed or investigated 
companies not listed above that have separate rates, the cash-deposit 
rate will continue to be the company-specific rate published for the 
most recent period; (3) for all other PRC exporters of subject 
merchandise which have not been found to be entitled to a separate 
rate, the cash-deposit rate will be the PRC-wide rate of 329.33 
percent; (4) for all non-PRC exporters of subject merchandise, the 
cash-deposit rate will be the rate applicable to the PRC exporter that 
supplied that exporter. These deposit requirements shall remain in 
effect until publication of the final results of the next 
administrative review.

Notification of Interested Parties

    This notice serves as a final reminder to importers of their 
responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation 
of the relevant entries during the review period. Pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.402(f)(3), failure to comply with this requirement could result in 
the Department's presumption that reimbursement of antidumping duties 
occurred and the subsequent assessment of doubled antidumping duties.
    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 as explained in the administrative protective order itself. See 19 
CFR 351.306. Timely written notification of the return/destruction of 
APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order is hereby 
requested. See 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Failure to comply with the 
regulations and the terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.
    These final results of administrative review and notice are issued 
and published in accordance with sections 751(a)(3) and 777(i) of the 
Act.

    Dated: February 6, 2006.
David M. Spooner,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Appendix 1

Decision Memorandum

1. Bona Fides
2. By-Product Offset
3. Valuation of Phtalic Anhydride
4. Valuation of Brokerage and Handling
5. Valuation of Ammonia Water
6. Valuation of Liquid Chlorine
7. Valuation of Sulfur Dioxide
8. Valuation of Ocean Freight
9. Valuation of Steam Coal
10. Valuation of Activated Carbon
[FR Doc. E6-1985 Filed 2-10-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S