[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 4, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23670-23671]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-10245]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

(C-552-805)


Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags from the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam: Countervailing Duty Order

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: Based on affirmative final determinations by the Department of 
Commerce (the Department) and the U.S. International Trade Commission 
(ITC), the Department is issuing a countervailing duty order on 
polyethylene retail carrier bags (PRCBs) from the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam (Vietnam).

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 4, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gene Calvert or Jun Jack Zhao, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office 6, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14\th\ Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
3586 and (202) 482-1396, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    In accordance with section 705(d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act), on April 1, 2010, the Department published its final 
determination in the countervailing duty investigation of PRCBs from 
Vietnam. See Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags from the Socialist 
Republic of Vietnam: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty 
Determination, 75 FR 16428 (April 1, 2010).
    On April 26, 2010, the ITC notified the Department of its final 
determination, pursuant to sections 705(b)(1)(A)(ii) and 705(d) of the 
Act, that a U.S. industry is threatened with material injury by reason 
of subsidized imports of subject merchandise from Vietnam. See 
Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags from Indonesia, Taiwan, and Vietnam, 
USITC Publication 4144, Investigation Nos. 701-TA-462 and 731-TA-1156-
1158 (Final) (April 2010). Pursuant to section 706(a) of the Act, the 
Department is publishing a countervailing duty order on the subject 
merchandise.

Scope of the Order

    The scope of this order covers polyethylene retail carrier bags, 
which also 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 
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 this order 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 merchandise included within the scope of this order are 
currently classifiable under statistical category 3923.21.0085 of the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). This 
subheading may also cover products that are outside the scope of this 
order. Furthermore, although the HTSUS subheading is provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope 
of this order is dispositive.

Countervailing Duty Order

    In accordance with section 706(a)(1) of the Act, the Department 
will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess, upon 
further instruction by the Department, countervailing duties equal to 
the amount of the net countervailable subsidy for all relevant entries 
of PRCBs from Vietnam.
    According to section 706(b)(2) of the Act, duties shall be assessed 
on subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the date of the ITC's notice of final 
determination if that determination is based upon threat of material 
injury. Section 706(b)(1) of the Act states, ``If the Commission, in 
its final determination under section 705(b), finds material injury or 
threat of material injury which, but for the suspension of liquidation 
under section 703(d)(2), would have led to a finding of material 
injury, then entries of the merchandise subject to the countervailing 
duty order, the liquidation of which has been suspended under section 
703(d)(2), shall be subject to the imposition of countervailing duties 
under section 701(a).'' In addition, section 706(b)(2) of the Act 
requires CBP to refund any cash deposits or bonds of estimated 
countervailing duties posted since the Department's preliminary 
countervailing duty determination, if the ITC's final determination is 
threat-based. Because the ITC's final determination in this case is 
based on the threat of material injury and is not accompanied by a 
finding that injury would have resulted but for the imposition of 
suspension of liquidation of entries since the Department's Preliminary 
Determination\1\ was published in the Federal Register, section 
706(b)(2) of the Act is applicable.
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    \1\ See Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags from the Socialist 
Republic of Vietnam: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty 
Determination and Alignment of Final Countervailing Duty 
Determination with Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 74 FR 45811 
(September 4, 2009) (Preliminary Determination).
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    Therefore, the Department will direct CBP to reinstitute suspension 
of liquidation,\2\ and to assess, upon further instruction from the 
Department, countervailing duties on all unliquidated entries of PRCBs 
from Vietnam entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on 
or after the date of publication of the ITC's

[[Page 23671]]

notice of final determination of threat of material injury in the 
Federal Register.
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    \2\ The Department instructed CBP to discontinue the suspension 
of liquidation on January 2, 2010, in accordance with section 703(d) 
of the Act. Section 703(d) states that suspension of liquidation 
pursuant to a preliminary determination may not remain in effect for 
more than four months. Entries of PRCBs from Vietnam made on or 
after January 2, 2010, and prior to the date of publication of the 
ITC's final determination in the Federal Register, are not liable 
for the assessment of countervailing duties because of the 
Department's discontinuation of the suspension of liquidation, 
effective January 2, 2010.
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Cash Deposit Requirements

    Pursuant to section 706(a)(3) of the Act, effective on the date of 
publication of the ITC's notice of final determination in the Federal 
Register, CBP will require, at the same time as importers would 
normally deposit estimated duties, cash deposits for the subject 
merchandise equal to the net subsidy rates listed below, except for 
subject merchandise entered by Chin Sheng Company, Ltd., whose net 
subsidy rate is de minimis and, hence, is excluded from this order. 
This exclusion applies only to subject merchandise both produced and 
exported by Chin Sheng Company, Ltd.
The all-others rate applies to all producers and exporters of subject 
merchandise not specifically listed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Net Subsidy
                    Producer/Exporter                          Rate
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Advance Polybag Co., Ltd................................   52.56[percnt]
Chin Sheng Company, Ltd.................................    0.44[percnt]
                                                            (de minimis)
Fotai Vietnam Enterprise Corp. And Fotai Enterprise         5.28[percnt]
 Corporation............................................
All Others..............................................    5.28[percnt]
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Termination of the Suspension of Liquidation

    Pursuant to the ITC's determination of threat of injury to a U.S. 
industry, the Department will instruct CBP to terminate the suspension 
of liquidation for entries of PRCBs from Vietnam entered, or withdrawn 
from warehouse, for consumption prior to the publication of the ITC's 
notice of final determination. The Department will also instruct CBP to 
refund any cash deposits made, and to release any bonds posted between 
September 4, 2009 (i.e., the date of publication of the Department's 
Preliminary Determination) and on or before January 2, 2010, the date 
on which the Department discontinued the suspension of liquidation 
pursuant to section 703(d) of the Act.
    This notice constitutes the countervailing duty order with respect 
to PRCBs from Vietnam, pursuant to section 706(a) of the Act. 
Interested parties may contact the Department's Central Records Unit, 
Room 1117 of the main Commerce Building, for copies of an updated list 
of countervailing duty orders currently in effect.
    This order is issued and published in accordance with section 
706(a) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.211(b).

    Dated: April 27, 2010.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-10245 Filed 5-3-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S