[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 52 (Monday, March 17, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14216-14218]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-5300]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-886]


Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags from the People's Republic of 
China: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and 
Partial Rescission of Review

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') is conducting 
an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on polyethylene 
retail carrier bags (``PRCB'') from the People's Republic of China 
(``PRC'') covering the period August 1, 2005, through July 30, 2006. On 
September 10, 2007, we published our preliminary results. See 
Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags from the People's Republic of China: 
Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and 
Partial Rescission of Review, 72 FR 51588 (``Preliminary Results''). We 
invited interested parties to comment on these preliminary results. 
Based on our analysis of the comments received, we have made changes to 
our margin calculations. Therefore, the final results differ from the 
preliminary results.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 17, 2008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Zev Primor or Maisha Cryor, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office 4, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
4114 or (202) 482-5831, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On September 10, 2007, the Department published the Preliminary 
Results. The mandatory respondents in this case are Dongguan Nozawa 
Plastics Products Co., Ltd., and United Power Packaging, Ltd. 
(collectively, ``Nozawa''), and Rally Plastics Co., Ltd. (``Rally''). 
Additionally, this review covers a PRC exporter and its wholly-owned 
producer that are requesting a separate rate, Chun Hing Plastic 
Packaging Mfy. Ltd., and Chun Yip Plastic Bag Factory (collectively, 
``Chun Hing''). On September 4, 2007, the Department issued a 
supplemental questionnaire to Rally requesting that it address 
deficiencies in its factors of production (``FOP'') allocation 
methodology. Rally submitted a response to this questionnaire on 
October 1, 2007. Nozawa, Rally, and the petitioners \1\ submitted case 
briefs on November 1, 2007, and rebuttal briefs on November 7, 2007. In 
addition, Rally submitted a request for a hearing on October 10, 2007, 
but withdrew the request on November 13, 2007.
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    \1\ The petitioners are Hilex Poly Co., LLC, and the Superbag 
Corporation.
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Period of Review

    The period of review (``POR'') for this administrative review is 
August 1, 2005, through July 31, 2006.

Scope of the Order

    The merchandise subject to this antidumping duty order is PRCBs, 
which may be referred to as t-shirt sacks, merchandise bags, grocery 
bags, or checkout bags. The subject merchandise is defined as non-
sealable sacks and bags with handles (including drawstrings), without 
zippers or integral extruded closures, with or without gussets, with or 
without printing, of polyethylene film having a thickness no

[[Page 14217]]

greater than 0.035 inch (0.889 mm) and no less than 0.00035 inch 
(0.00889 mm), and with no length or width shorter than 6 inches (15.24 
cm) or longer than 40 inches (101.6 cm). The depth of the bag may be 
shorter than 6 inches but not longer than 40 inches (101.6 cm).
    PRCBs are typically provided without any consumer packaging and 
free of charge by retail establishments, e.g., grocery, drug, 
convenience, department, specialty retail, discount stores, and 
restaurants, to their customers to package and carry their purchased 
products. The scope of the investigation excludes (1) polyethylene bags 
that are not printed with logos or store names and that are closeable 
with drawstrings made of polyethylene film and (2) polyethylene bags 
that are packed in consumer packaging with printing that refers to 
specific end-uses other than packaging and carrying merchandise from 
retail establishments, e.g., garbage bags, lawn bags, trash-can liners.
    Imports of the subject merchandise are currently classifiable under 
statistical category 3923.21.0085 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States (``HTSUS'').\2\ This subheading may also cover 
products that are outside the scope of this investigation. Furthermore, 
although the HTSUS subheading is provided for convenience and customs 
purposes, our written description of the scope of this order is 
dispositive.
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    \2\ ``Until July 1, 2005, these products were classifiable under 
HTSUS 3923.21.0090 (Sacks and bags of polymers of ethylene, other). 
See Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (2005) - 
Supplement 1 Annotated for Statistical Reporting Purposes Change 
Record - 17th Edition - Supplement 1, available at http://hotdocs.usitc.gov/docs/tata/hts/bychapter/0510/0510chgs.pdf.
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Partial Rescission of Review

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3), the Department 
preliminarily rescinded this administrative review with respect to 
Crown Polyethylene Products (Int'l) Ltd. (``Crown''); Heng Rong Plastic 
Products Co., Ltd. (``Heng Rong''); and Samson Plastic Manufactory Co., 
Ltd. (``Samson''). See Preliminary Results, 72 FR at 51589-90. No 
additional comments were received regarding the preliminary rescission 
of these companies. Therefore, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3), 
we have rescinded the administrative review with respect to Crown, Heng 
Rong, and Samson.

Duty Absorption

    As noted above, we have rescinded the review for Crown Heng Rong 
and Samson, thus making the petitioner's request for calculating duty 
absorption with respect to these companies moot. In addition, Rally did 
not sell subject merchandise in the United States through an affiliated 
importer. Thus, according to section 751(a)(4) of the Tariff Act of 
1930, as amended (the ``Act''), we did not investigate whether Rally 
absorbed duties. In this case, only Nozawa sold subject merchandise in 
the United States through an affiliated importer.
    Prior to the issuance of the Preliminary Results, the Department 
asked Nozawa to provide evidence to demonstrate that its unaffiliated 
U.S. purchasers will pay any antidumping duties ultimately assessed on 
entries of subject merchandise. Nozawa did not respond to the 
Department's request. See Memorandum from Mark Manning, Program 
Manager, AD/CVD Operations, Office 4, to the File, regarding ``Nozawa's 
Response to Request for Duty Absorption Information,'' dated August 16, 
2007. Accordingly, absent such information on the record, the 
Department found in the Preliminary Results that it cannot conclude 
that the unaffiliated purchasers in the United States will pay the 
assessed duties. We received no comments from interested parties on our 
duty absorption finding. Therefore, because Nozawa did not rebut the 
duty-absorption presumption with evidence that its unaffiliated U.S. 
purchasers will pay the full duty ultimately assessed on the subject 
merchandise, we continue to find that antidumping duties have been 
absorbed by Nozawa on all U.S. sales made through its affiliated 
importers. See Notice of Final Results and Final Rescission in Part of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: Certain Stainless Steel Butt-
Weld Pipe Fittings From Taiwan, 70 FR 73727 (December 13, 2005).

Separate Rates

    In proceedings involving non-market economy (``NME'') countries, 
the Department begins with a rebuttable presumption that all companies 
within the country are subject to government control and, thus, should 
be assigned a single antidumping duty deposit rate. It is the 
Department's policy to assign all exporters of merchandise subject to 
review in an NME country this single rate unless an exporter can 
demonstrate that it is sufficiently independent so as to be entitled to 
a separate rate.
    In the Preliminary Results, we found that Chun Hing, Nozawa, and 
Rally demonstrated their eligibility for separate-rate status. We 
received no comments from interested parties regarding the separate 
rate status of these companies. Therefore, in these final results of 
review, we continue to find that the evidence placed on the record of 
this review by the above-referenced companies demonstrates an absence 
of government control, both in law and in fact, with respect to their 
exports of the merchandise under review. Thus, we have determined that 
Chun Hing, Nozawa, and Rally are eligible to receive separate rates.

Surrogate Country

    In the Preliminary Results, we treated the PRC as a NME country 
and, therefore, we calculated normal value in accordance with section 
773(c) of the Act. Also, we stated that we selected India as the 
appropriate surrogate country to use in this review for the following 
reasons: (1) it is a significant producer of merchandise comparable to 
subject merchandise; and (2) it is at a level of economic development 
comparable to the PRC, pursuant to section 773(c)(4) of the Act. See 
Preliminary Results, 72 FR at 51591. No interested party commented on 
our designation of the PRC as an NME country, nor the selection of 
India as the surrogate country. Therefore, for the final results of 
review, we have continued to treat the PRC as an NME country and have 
used the same surrogate country, India, for these final results.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the post-preliminary comments by parties in 
this review are addressed in the memorandum from Stephen J. Claeys, 
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration, to David M. 
Spooner, Assistant Secretary for Import Administration, ``Issues and 
Decision Memorandum for the Final Results on Polyethylene Retail 
Carrier Bags from the People's Republic of China,'' dated March 10, 
2008 (``Issues and Decision Memorandum''), which is hereby adopted by 
this notice. A list of the issues that parties raised and to which we 
responded in the Issues and Decision Memorandum is attached to this 
notice as an appendix. The Issues and Decision Memorandum is a public 
document and is on file in the Central Records Unit (``CRU'') in room 
1117 in the main Commerce Department building, and is also accessible 
on the Web at http://ia.ita.doc.gov/frn. The paper copy and electronic 
version of the memorandum are identical in content.

Changes Since the Preliminary Results

    Based on our analysis of comments received, we have made the 
following changes in the margin calculations for

[[Page 14218]]

PCRBs: (1) in surrogate financial ratios we included ``rates and 
taxes'' in the SG&A calculation, (2) material costs were adjusted for 
changes in raw material inventories, (3) the appropriate profit amount 
was used and (4) we revised the calculation of the total value of 
direct materials to include the value of upper polyvinylchloride 
(``PVC'') inputs.

Final Results of the Review

    The Department has determined that the following preliminary 
dumping margins exist for the period August 1, 2005, through July 31, 
2006:

              Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags from the PRC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Weighted-Average
                Manufacturer/Exporter                  Margin (Percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chun Hing Plastic Packaging Mfy. Ltd. and Chun Yip                 17.30
 Plastic Bag Factory................................
Dongguan Nozawa Plastics Products Co., Ltd. and                     2.58
 United Power Packaging, Ltd........................
Rally Plastics Co., Ltd.............................               32.02
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Assessment Rates

    The Department intends to issue assessment instructions to U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') 15 days after the date of 
publication of these final results of review. In accordance with 19 CFR 
351.212(b)(1), we have calculated importer or customer-specific 
assessment rates for merchandise subject to this review.

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon 
publication of the 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 Chun Hing, Nozawa, and Rally, the cash-
deposit rate will be that established in the final results of review 
(except, if the rate is zero or de minimis, no cash deposit will be 
required); (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 PRC-wide rate of 77.57 percent; (4) for all non-PRC 
exporters of subject merchandise that have not received their own rate, 
the cash-deposit rate will be the rate applicable to the PRC exporter 
that supplied that exporter. These deposit requirements, when imposed, 
shall remain in effect until further notice.

Notification to Importers

    This notice also 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 this review period. Failure to comply 
with this requirement could result in the Secretary's presumption that 
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of double antidumping duties.
    This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective orders (``APOs'') of their responsibility 
concerning the return or destruction of proprietary information 
disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305, which continues 
to govern business proprietary information in this segment of the 
proceeding. Timely written notification of the return/destruction of 
APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order is hereby 
requested.
    Failure to comply with the regulations and terms of an APO is a 
violation that is subject to sanction.
    This administrative review and this notice are in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i) of the Act, 19 CFR 351.213, and 19 CFR 
351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: March 10, 2008.
David M. Spooner,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

APPENDIX

List of Comments and Issues in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

Comments with Respect to Surrogate Financial Ratios

Comment 1: Offset of Selling, General, and Administrative (``SG&A'') by 
Interest Income
Comment 2: ``Rates and Taxes'' in the SG&A Calculation
Comment 3: Adjustment to Material Costs by the Amount of Changes in Raw 
Material and Work-In-Progress Inventories
Comment 4: Correction to the Profit Amount

Comments with Respect to Nozawa

Comment 5: Cash Deposit and Liquidation Instructions

Comments with Respect to Rally

Comment 6: Appropriate Surrogate Value for Ink
Comment 7: Valuation of Recycled Scrap and Scrap By-Product
Comment 8: Revised Allocation Methodology
[FR Doc. E8-5300 Filed 3-14-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S