[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 188 (Monday, September 29, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58320-58322]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-23130]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-015]


Countervailing Duty Investigation of 53-Foot Domestic Dry 
Containers From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary 
Determination and Alignment of Final Determination With Final 
Antidumping Duty Determination

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') preliminarily 
determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to 
producers and exporters of 53-foot domestic dry containers (``domestic 
dry containers'') from the People's Republic of China (the ``PRC''). We 
invite interested parties to comment on this preliminary determination.

DATES: Effective Date: September 29, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yasmin Nair, David Cordell or Ilissa

[[Page 58321]]

Shefferman, AD/CVD Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th 
Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone 
202.482.3813, 202.482.0408 or 202.482.4684, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise subject to investigation is closed (i.e., not open 
top) van containers exceeding 14.63 meters (48 feet) but generally 
measuring 16.154 meters (53 feet) in exterior length, which are 
designed for the intermodal transport \1\ of goods other than bulk 
liquids within North America primarily by rail or by road vehicle, or 
by a combination of rail and road vehicle (domestic containers). The 
merchandise is known in the industry by varying terms including ``53-
foot containers,'' ``53-foot dry containers,'' ``53-foot domestic dry 
containers,'' ``domestic dry containers'' and ``domestic containers.'' 
Imports of the subject merchandise are provided for under subheading 
8609.00.0000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS). Imports of the subject merchandise which meet the definition 
of and requirements for ``instruments of international traffic'' 
pursuant to 19 U.S.C. Sec.  1322 and 19 C.F.R. Sec.  10.41a may be 
classified under subheading 9803.00.50, HTSUS. While HTSUS subheadings 
are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written 
description of the subject merchandise is dispositive. For a complete 
description of the scope of this investigation, see the Memorandum from 
Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Operations to Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, ``Countervailing Duty Investigation of 53-
Foot Domestic Dry Containers from the People's Republic of China: 
Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (``Preliminary 
Decision Memo'').
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    \1\ ``Intermodal transport'' refers to a movement of freight 
using more than one mode of transportation, most commonly on a 
container chassis for on-the-road transportation and on a rail car 
for rail transportation.
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Methodology

    The Department is conducting this countervailing duty (``CVD'') 
investigation in accordance with section 701 of the Tariff Act of 1930, 
as amended (the ``Act''). For each of the subsidy programs found 
countervailable, we preliminarily determine that there is a subsidy, 
i.e., a financial contribution by an ``authority'' that gives rise to a 
benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is specific.\2\ For a 
full description of the methodology underlying our preliminary 
conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memo. The Preliminary 
Decision Memo is a public document and is on file electronically via 
Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Centralized Electronic Service System (``IA ACCESS''). IA ACCESS is 
available to registered users at http://iaaccess.trade.gov, and is 
available to all parties in the Central Records Unit, Room 7046 of the 
main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version 
of the Preliminary Decision Memo can be accessed directly at http://trade.gov/enforcement. The signed Preliminary Decision Memo and the 
electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision Memo are identical in 
content.
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    \2\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding 
financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding 
benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
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    The Department notes that, in making these findings, we relied, in 
part, on facts available and, because one or more respondents did not 
act to the best of their ability to respond to the Department's 
requests for information, we drew an adverse inference where 
appropriate in selecting from among the facts otherwise available.\3\ 
For further information, see ``Use of Facts Otherwise Available and 
Adverse Inferences'' in the Preliminary Decision Memo.
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    \3\ See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.
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Alignment

    As noted in the Preliminary Decision Memo, in accordance with 
section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(4), we are aligning 
the final CVD determination in this investigation with the final 
determination in the companion antidumping duty (``AD'') investigation 
of domestic dry containers from the PRC based on a request made by the 
petitioner. Consequently, the final CVD determination will be issued on 
the same date as the final AD determination, which is currently 
scheduled to be issued no later than February 2, 2015, unless 
postponed.

Preliminary Determination and Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 703(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, we 
calculated an individual rate for each exporter/producer of the subject 
merchandise individually investigated. We preliminarily determine the 
countervailable subsidy rates to be:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Exporter/Producer                      Subsidy rate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CIMC International Marine Containers (Group) Co., Ltd.            10.46%
 (CIMC Group); CIMC Containers Holding Co., Ltd. (CIMC
 Holding); CIMC Wood Development Co., Ltd. (CIMC Wood);
 Guangdong Xinhui CIMC Special Transportation Equipment
 Co., Ltd. (Xinhui Special); Qingdao CIMC Containers
 Manufacture Co., Ltd. (Qingdao CIMC); Nantong CIMC-
 Special Transportation Equipment Manufacture Co., Ltd.
 (Nantong CIMC); Xinhui CIMC Container Co., Ltd. (Xinhui
 Container); and Xinhui CIMC Wood Co., Ltd. (Xinhui
 Wood) (collectively, ``CIMC'').........................
Hui Zhou Pacific Container Co., Ltd.; Qingdao Pacific              7.13%
 Container Co., Ltd.; and Qidong Singamas Energy
 Equipment Co., Ltd. (collectively, ``Singamas'').......
All-Others..............................................           8.79%
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In accordance with sections 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, we 
are directing U.S. Customs and Border Protection to suspend liquidation 
of all entries of domestic dry containers from the PRC that are 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the 
date of the publication of this notice in the Federal Register, and to 
require a cash deposit for such entries of merchandise in the amounts 
indicated above.
    In accordance with sections 703(d) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act, for 
companies not investigated, we apply an ``all-others rate'', which is 
normally calculated by weighting the subsidy rates of the individual 
companies selected as respondents by those companies' exports of the 
subject merchandise to the United States. Notwithstanding the language 
of section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act, we have not calculated the 
``all-others'' rate by

[[Page 58322]]

weight averaging the rates of the two individually investigated 
respondents, because doing so risks disclosure of proprietary 
information. Therefore, for the ``all-others'' rate, we calculated a 
simple average of the two responding firms' rates.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, we intend to verify 
the information submitted by the respondents prior to making our final 
determination.

Disclosure and Public Comment

    The Department will disclose calculations performed for this 
preliminary determination to the parties within five days of the date 
of public announcement of this determination in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.224(b). Case briefs or other written comments for all non-scope 
issues may be submitted to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance no later than seven days after the date on which the final 
verification report is issued in this proceeding, and rebuttal briefs, 
limited to issues raised in case briefs, may be submitted no later than 
five days after the deadline date for case briefs.\4\ A table of 
contents, list of authorities used and an executive summary of issues 
should accompany any briefs submitted to the Department. This summary 
should be limited to five pages total, including footnotes.
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    \4\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
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    Interested parties who wish to request a hearing, or to participate 
if one is requested, must submit a written request to the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, 
filed electronically using IA ACCESS. An electronically filed request 
for a hearing must be received successfully in its entirety by the 
Department's electronic records system, IA ACCESS, by 5:00 p.m. Eastern 
Time, within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.\5\ 
Requests should contain the party's name, address, and telephone 
number; the number of participants; and a list of the issues to be 
discussed. If a request for a hearing is made, the Department intends 
to hold the hearing at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230, at a date and time to be 
determined. Parties will be notified of the date and time of any 
hearing. The hearing will be limited to issues raised in the respective 
briefs.\6\
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    \5\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \6\ Id.
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International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (``ITC'') of our determination. In 
addition, we are making available to the ITC all non-privileged and 
non-proprietary information relating to this investigation. We will 
allow the ITC access to all privileged and business proprietary 
information in our files, provided the ITC confirms that it will not 
disclose such information, either publicly or under an administrative 
protective order, without the written consent of the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
    In accordance with section 705(b)(2) of the Act, if our final 
determination is affirmative, the ITC will make its final determination 
within 45 days after the Department makes its final determination.
    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: September 22, 2014.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memo

I. Summary
II. Background
    A. Case History
    B. Period of Investigation
III. Scope Comments
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Alignment
VI. Respondent Selection
VII. Injury Test
VIII. Application of the Countervailing Duty Law to Imports from the 
PRC
IX. Subsidies Valuation
    A. Allocation Period
    B. Attribution of Subsidies
    C. Denominators
X. Benchmarks and Discount Rates
    A. Short-Term RMB-Denominated Loans
    B. Long-Term RMB-Denominated Loans
    C. Foreign Currency-Denominated Loans
    D. Discount Rates
XI. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
XII. Analysis of Programs
    A. Programs Preliminarily Determined to Be Countervailable
    1. Preferential Loans to SOEs
    2. Export Seller's Credits from China Ex-Im
    3. Provision of Electricity for LTAR
    4. Provision of Hot-Rolled Sheet and Plate for LTAR
    5. Provision of Hot-Rolled Steel I-Beams for LTAR
    6. Two Free/Three Half Program for Foreign Invested Enterprises 
(FIEs)
    7. Preferential Tax Programs for Enterprises Recognized as High 
or New Technology Enterprises (HNTEs)
    8. Enterprise Tax Law Research and Development Program Grants
    B. Programs Preliminary Determined Not to Be Used During the POI
    1. Export Buyer's Program
    C. Programs With No Measurable Benefit
    1. ``Famous Brands'' Program
    2. Other Grants to Singamas
    D. Programs For Which Additional Information is Needed
    1. Other Grants to CIMC
XIII. Verification
XIV. Conclusion
[FR Doc. 2014-23130 Filed 9-26-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P