[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 244 (Thursday, December 18, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77007-77008]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-30113]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

(A-588-046)


Polychloroprene Rubber From Japan: Final Results of Changed 
Circumstances Review and Determination To Revoke Antidumping Duty 
Finding, in Part

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: On September 29, 2008, the Department of Commerce (the 
Department) published a notice of initiation and preliminary results of 
a changed circumstances review with intent to revoke, in part, the 
antidumping duty (AD) finding on polychloroprene rubber from Japan. See 
Polychloroprene Rubber From Japan: Initiation and Preliminary Results 
of Changed Circumstances Review, and Intent to Revoke Antidumping Duty 
Finding, in Part, 73 FR 56548 (September 29, 2008) (Initiation and 
Preliminary Results). On October 27, 2008, the Federal Register 
corrected certain errors it made in publishing the Initiation and 
Preliminary Results. See Polychloroprene Rubber From Japan: Initiation 
and Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Review, and Intent to 
Revoke Antidumping Duty Finding, in Part, 73 FR 63687 (October 27, 
2008) (Initiation Correction).
    In the Initiation and Preliminary Results and Initiation 
Correction, the Department invited interested parties to comment on the 
Initiation and Preliminary Results and no comments were received. 
Accordingly, we are now revoking this AD finding, in part, with regard 
to certain polychloroprene rubber products from Japan, as described in 
the ``Scope of Changed Circumstances Review'' section of this notice, 
based on the fact that domestic parties have expressed no further 
interest in the relief provided by the AD finding with respect to the 
imports of such products.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 18, 2008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Summer Avery, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office 6, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., 
Washington DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4052.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 4, 2008, the Department received a request on behalf of 
the petitioner, DuPont Performance Elastomers L.L.C. (DPE),\1\ for 
revocation, in part, of the AD finding on polychloroprene rubber from 
Japan pursuant to sections 751(b)(1) and 782(h) of the Tariff Act of 
1930, as amended (the Act). DPE requested partial revocation of the AD 
finding with respect to certain polychloroprene rubber products, listed 
below in the section entitled ``Scope of Changed Circumstances 
Review.'' In its August 4, 2008 submission, DPE stated that it no 
longer has any interest in antidumping relief from imports of such 
polychloroprene rubber from Japan. On September 29, 2008, the 
Department published a notice of initiation and preliminary results of 
a changed circumstances review with intent to revoke, in part, the AD 
finding on polychloroprene rubber from Japan. See Initiation and 
Preliminary Results. In preparing the notice for publication, the 
Federal Register made a number of substantive errors during its 
technical preparation of the Initiation and Preliminary Results for 
publication. On October 27, 2008, the Federal Register published 
corrections of these errors. See Initiation Correction. The Department 
provided interested parties with a deadline to submit written comments 
no later than 30 days after the date of the Initiation Correction. The 
Department did not receive any comments from interested parties.
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    \1\ DPE is the sole petitioner in this antidumping proceeding. 
See Polychloroprene Rubber From Japan: Final Results of the 
Expedited Sunset Review of the Antidumping Duty Finding, 69 FR 64276 
(November 4, 2004). DPE has been the sole U.S. producer of 
polychloroprene rubber since 1998, when Bayer Group closed its 
polychloroprene rubber plant in Houston, Texas. See Polychloroprene 
Rubber from Japan, Inv. No. AA-1921-129 (Second Review), U.S. ITC 
Pub. 3786 (June 2005), at 4-5.
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Scope of Changed Circumstances Review

    The merchandise subject to DPE's request and covered by this 
changed circumstances review is polychloroprene rubber from Japan with 
aqueous dispersions of 2-chlorobutadiene-1,3 homopolymers, where the 
polymer content of the dispersion is between 55 weight percent and 61 
weight percent and the dispersed homopolymer contains less than 10 
weight percent of a tetrahydrofuran-insoluble fraction. This changed 
circumstances review covers polychloroprene rubber from Japan meeting 
the specifications as described above. Effective upon publication of 
these final results of changed circumstances review in the Federal 
Register, the amended scope of the AD finding will read as identified 
in the ``Scope of the Finding (As Amended By These Final Results of 
Changed Circumstances)'' section below.

Scope of the Finding (As Amended By These Final Results of Changed 
Circumstances)

    The merchandise covered are shipments of polychloroprene rubber, an 
oil resistant synthetic rubber also known as polymerized 
chlorobutadiene or neoprene, currently classifiable under items 
4002.41.00, 4002.49.00, and 4003.00.00 of the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Although HTSUS item numbers are 
provided for convenience and customs purpose, the Department's written 
description of the scope remains dispositive.
    The following types of polychloroprene rubber from Japan are 
excluded from the scope: (1) aqueous dispersions of polychloroprenes 
that are dipolymers of chloroprene and methacrylic acid, where the 
dispersion has a pH of 8 or lower (this category is limited to aqueous 
dispersions of these polymers and does not include aqueous dispersions 
of these polychloroprenes that contain comonomers other than 
methacrylic acid); (2) aqueous dispersions of polychloroprenes that are 
dipolymers of chloroprene and 2,3-dichlorobutadiene-1,3 modified with 
xanthogen disulfides, where the

[[Page 77008]]

dispersion has a solids content of greater than 59 percent (this 
category is limited to aqueous dispersions of these polymers and does 
not include aqueous dispersions of polychloroprenes that contain 
comonomers other than 2,3-dichlorobutadiene-1,3); and (3) solid 
polychloroprenes that are dipolymers of chloroprene and 2,3-
dichlorobutadiene-1,3 having a 2,3-dichlorobutadiene-1,3 content of 15 
percent or greater (this category is limited to polychloroprenes in 
solid form and does not include aqueous dispersions).
    In addition, the following types of polychloroprene rubber are 
excluded from the scope: 1) solid polychloroprenes that are dipolymers 
of chloroprene and methacrylic acid having methacrylic acid comonomer 
content in the 0.2 percent to 5.0 percent range (this category does not 
include aqueous chloroprene/methacrylic acid diploymer dispersion 
products or solvent solutions of chloroprene/methacrylic acid 
dipolymers),\2\ and 2) aqueous dispersions of 2-chlorobutadiene-1,3 
homopolymers, where the polymer content of the dispersion is between 55 
weight percent and 61 weight percent and the dispersed homopolymer 
contains less than 10 weight percent of a tetrahydrofuran-insoluble 
fraction.
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    \2\ See Polychloroprene Rubber from Japan: Final Results of 
Changed Circumstances Review and Determination to Revoke Antidumping 
Duty Finding in Part, 73 FR 64914 (October 31, 2008).
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Final Results of Review: Partial Revocation of Antidumping Duty Finding

    The affirmative statement of no interest by the petitioner 
concerning certain polychloroprene rubber from Japan, as described 
herein, constitutes changed circumstances sufficient to warrant 
revocation of the AD finding in part. Therefore, the Department is 
revoking, in part, the AD finding on polychloroprene rubber from Japan 
with regard to products which meet the specifications detailed above, 
in accordance with sections 751(b) and (d) and 782(h) of the Act and 19 
CFR 351.216(d) and 351.222(g). We will instruct U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection to terminate the suspension of liquidation of entries of 
certain polychloroprene rubber, meeting the specifications indicated 
above, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after the date of publication in the Federal Register of the final 
results of this changed circumstances review, in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.222. Entries of subject merchandise prior to the effective date of 
revocation will continue to be subject to suspension of liquidation and 
antidumping duty deposit requirements.
    This notice 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 351.306. Timely written notification of 
the return/destruction of APO materials or conversion to judicial 
protective order is hereby requested. Failure to comply is a violation 
of the APO which may be subject to sanctions.
    The Department is issuing this changed circumstances review, 
partial revocation of the AD finding, and this notice in accordance 
with sections 751(b) and (d), 777(i), and 782(h) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.216(e) and 351.222(g).

    Dated: December 11, 2008.
Stephen J. Claeys,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations.
[FR Doc. E8-30113 Filed 12-17-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S