[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 152 (Friday, August 7, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47464-47466]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-19482]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-985]


Xanthan Gum From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Preliminary 
Determination of No Shipments; 2013-2014

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') is conducting 
an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on xanthan gum 
from the People's Republic of China (``PRC''). The period of review 
(``POR'') is July 19, 2013, through June 30, 2014.\1\ The Department 
initiated this review with respect to eight companies, two of which 
have been collapsed with a mandatory respondent. The two collapsed 
mandatory respondents are: Deosen Biochemical Ltd./Deosen Biochemical 
(Ordos) Ltd. (``Deosen'') and Neimenggu Fufeng Biotechnologies Co., 
Ltd. (aka Inner Mongolia Fufeng Biotechnologies Co., Ltd.)/Shandong 
Fufeng Fermentation Co., Ltd./Xinjiang Fufeng Biotechnologies Co., Ltd. 
(``Fufeng''). The Department preliminarily finds that the mandatory 
respondent Deosen sold subject merchandise in the United States at 
prices below normal value (``NV'') during the POR, but that Fufeng did 
not. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary 
results.
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    \1\ The POR for this administrative review begins on July 19, 
2013, the date the International Trade Commission (``ITC'') 
published its final determination of threat of material injury in 
the underlying investigation and the date from which merchandise 
subject to the antidumping duty order on xanthan gum from the PRC 
remains suspended from liquidation pursuant to the underlying 
investigation. The ITC's finding was not accompanied by a finding 
that injury would have resulted but for the imposition of suspension 
of liquidation. See Xanthan Gum From Austria and China, 78 FR 43226 
(July 19, 2013). Accordingly, merchandise subject to the 
investigation remains suspended from liquidation beginning on July 
19, 2013, the date the ITC published its final determination, see 
Xanthan Gum From the People's Republic of China: Amended Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Antidumping Duty 
Order, 78 FR 43143, 43144 (July 19, 2013), and this date serves as 
the first day of the POR for this administrative review.

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DATES: Effective date: August 7, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brandon Farlander or Erin Kearney, AD/
CVD Operations, Office IV, Enforcement & Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
0182 or (202) 482-0167, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Scope of the Order

    The scope of the order covers dry xanthan gum, whether or not 
coated or blended with other products. Further, xanthan gum is included 
in this order regardless of physical form, including, but not limited 
to, solutions, slurries, dry powders of any particle size, or unground 
fiber. Merchandise covered by the scope of this order is classified in 
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States at subheading 
3913.90.20. This tariff classification is provided for convenience and 
customs purposes; however, the written description of the scope is 
dispositive.\2\
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    \2\ For a complete description of the Scope of the Order, see 
``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Results of the Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Review of Xanthan Gum from the People's Republic 
of China,'' (``Preliminary Decision Memorandum''), dated 
concurrently with this notice.
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Preliminary Determination of No Shipments

    Based on an analysis of U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
(``CBP'') information, and questionnaire responses provided by A.H.A. 
International Co., Ltd. (``AHA'') and Deosen, the Department 
preliminarily determines that AHA did not have any reviewable 
transactions during the POR. For additional information regarding this 
determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    Consistent with an announced refinement to its assessment practice 
in non-market economy (``NME'') cases, the Department is not rescinding 
this review for AHA, but intends to complete the review and issue 
appropriate instructions to CBP based on the final results of the 
review.\3\
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    \3\ See Non-Market Economy Antidumping Proceedings: Assessment 
of Antidumping Duties, 76 FR 65694, 65694-95 (October 24, 2011) and 
the ``Assessment Rates'' section, below.
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Preliminary Affiliation and Single Entity Determination

    Based on record evidence, the Department preliminarily finds that 
Deosen Biochemical Ltd. and Deosen Biochemical (Ordos) Ltd. are 
affiliated pursuant to section 771(33)(G) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the ``Act'') and should be treated as a single entity for AD 
purposes pursuant to 19 CFR 351.401(f). Furthermore, based on record 
evidence, the Department preliminarily finds that Neimenggu Fufeng 
Biotechnologies Co., Ltd. (aka Inner Mongolia Fufeng Biotechnologies 
Co., Ltd.), Shandong Fufeng Fermentation Co. Ltd., and Xinjiang Fufeng 
Biotechnologies Co., Ltd. are affiliated pursuant to section 771(33)(F) 
of the Act and should be treated as a single entity for AD purposes 
pursuant to 19 CFR 351.401(f). For additional information, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Separate Rates

    The Department preliminarily determines that information placed on 
the record by the mandatory respondents Deosen and Fufeng, as well as 
by the separate rate applicants CP Kelco (Shandong) Biological Company 
Limited and Shanghai Smart Chemicals Co. Ltd., demonstrates that these 
companies are entitled to separate rate status. Hebei Xinhe Biochemical 
Co. Ltd., which did not claim that it made no shipments of subject 
merchandise during the POR, failed to submit a separate rate 
application or separate rate certification. Therefore, this company is 
not eligible for separate rate status.\4\

[[Page 47465]]

Accordingly, the Department preliminarily finds that the PRC-wide 
entity includes this company. For additional information, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \4\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 79 FR 51548, 51549 (August 29, 2014) (``All 
firms listed below that wish to qualify for separate rate status in 
the administrative reviews involving NME countries must complete, as 
appropriate, either a separate rate application or certification . . 
.'').
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PRC-Wide Entity

    The Department's change in policy regarding conditional review of 
the PRC-wide entity applies to this administrative review.\5\ Under 
this policy, the PRC-wide entity will not be under review unless a 
party specifically requests, or the Department self-initiates, a review 
of the entity. Because no party requested a review of the PRC-wide 
entity in this review, the entity is not under review and the entity's 
rate is not subject to change (i.e., 154.07 percent).\6\
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    \5\ See Antidumping Proceedings: Announcement of Change in 
Department Practice for Respondent Selection in Antidumping Duty 
Proceedings and Conditional Review of the Nonmarket Economy Entity 
in NME Antidumping Duty Proceedings, 78 FR 65963 (November 4, 2013).
    \6\ See Steel Wire Garment Hangers From the People's Republic of 
China: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 
2012-2013, 80 FR 13332 (March 13, 2015), and accompanying Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
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Rate for Separate-Rate Companies Not Individually Examined

    The statute and the Department's regulations do not address the 
establishment of a rate to be applied to respondents not selected for 
individual examination when the Department limits its examination of 
companies subject to the administrative review pursuant to section 
777A(c)(2)(B) of the Act. Generally, the Department looks to section 
735(c)(5) of the Act, which provides instructions for calculating the 
all-others rate in an investigation, for guidance when calculating the 
rate for respondents not individually examined in an administrative 
review. Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act articulates a preference for 
not calculating an all-others rate using rates which are zero, de 
minimis or based entirely on facts available. Accordingly, the 
Department's usual practice has been to determine the dumping margin 
for companies not individually examined by averaging the weighted-
average dumping margins for the individually examined respondents, 
excluding rates that are zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts 
available.\7\ Consistent with this practice, because we preliminarily 
determine that the weighted-average dumping margin calculated for 
Fufeng is zero, the Department assigned to the companies not 
individually examined, but which demonstrated their eligibility for a 
separate rate, a margin equal to the weighted-average dumping margin 
calculated for Deosen.
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    \7\ See Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof From France, Germany, 
Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Reviews and Rescission of Reviews in Part, 73 FR 
52823, 52824 (September 11, 2008), and accompanying Issues and 
Decision Memorandum at Comment 16.
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Methodology

    The Department is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(1)(B) of the Act. The Department calculated export prices and 
constructed export prices in accordance with section 772 of the Act. 
Given that the PRC is a NME country, within the meaning of section 
771(18) of the Act, the Department calculated NV in accordance with 
section 773(c) of the Act.
    For a full description of the methodology underlying the 
preliminary results of this review, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\8\ The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document 
and is made available to the public via Enforcement and Compliance's 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service 
System (``ACCESS''). ACCESS is available to registered users at http://access.trade.gov, and is available to all parties in the Central 
Records Unit, room B8024 of the main Department of Commerce building. 
In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
can be found at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and the 
electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are 
identical in content.
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    \8\ A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is provided in the Appendix to this notice.
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Preliminary Results of Review

    The Department preliminarily determines that the following 
weighted-average dumping margins exist for the POR:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Weighted- average
                       Exporter                          dumping margin
                                                           (percent)
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Neimenggu Fufeng Biotechnologies Co., Ltd. (aka Inner               0.00
 Mongolia Fufeng Biotechnologies Co., Ltd.)/Shandong
 Fufeng Fermentation Co., Ltd./Xinjiang Fufeng
 Biotechnologies Co., Ltd............................
Deosen Biochemical Ltd./Deosen Biochemical (Ordos)                  5.14
 Ltd.................................................
CP Kelco (Shandong) Biological Company Limited.......               5.14
Shanghai Smart Chemicals Co. Ltd.....................               5.14
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    The Department intends to disclose to parties the calculations 
performed for these preliminary results of review not later than ten 
days after the date of the public announcement of, or, if there is no 
public announcement, within five days after the date of publication of, 
the preliminary results of review in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). 
Interested parties may submit case briefs no later than 30 days after 
the date of publication of these preliminary results of review.\9\ 
Rebuttal briefs may be filed no later than five days after case briefs 
are due and may respond only to arguments raised in the case 
briefs.\10\ A table of contents, list of authorities used, and an 
executive summary of issues should accompany any briefs submitted to 
the Department.\11\ The summary should be limited to five pages total, 
including footnotes.
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    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii).
    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d).
    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2), (d)(2).
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    Interested parties who wish to request a hearing must submit a 
written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, within 30 days after the date 
of publication of this notice.\12\ Requests should contain the party's 
name, address, and telephone number, the number of participants, and a 
list of the issues to be discussed. Oral argument presentations will be 
limited to issues raised in the briefs. If a request for a hearing is 
made, the Department intends to hold the hearing at the U.S.

[[Page 47466]]

Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20230, at a date and time to be determined.\13\ Parties 
should confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing 
two days before the scheduled date.
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    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.310(d).
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    All submissions, with limited exceptions, must be filed 
electronically using ACCESS.\14\ An electronically filed document must 
be received successfully in its entirety by the Department's electronic 
records system, ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Time (``ET'') on the due 
date. Documents excepted from the electronic submission requirements 
must be filed manually (i.e., in paper form) with the APO/Dockets Unit 
in Room 18022 and stamped with the date and time of receipt by 5 p.m. 
ET on the due date.\15\
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    \14\ See generally 19 CFR 351.303.
    \15\ See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: 
Electronic Filing Procedures; Administrative Protective Order 
Procedures, 76 FR 39263 (July 6, 2011).
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    Unless otherwise extended, the Department intends to issue the 
final results of this administrative review, which will include the 
results of its analysis of issues raised in any briefs, within 120 days 
of publication of these preliminary results, pursuant to section 
751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.

Assessment Rates

    Upon issuance of the final results of this review, the Department 
will determine, and CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on all 
appropriate entries covered by this review.\16\ The Department intends 
to issue assessment instructions to CBP 15 days after the publication 
date of the final results of this review. For each individually 
examined respondent in this review whose weighted-average dumping 
margin in the final results of review is above de minimis (i.e., 
greater than or equal to 0.5 percent), the Department intends to 
calculate importer- (or customer) specific assessment rates, in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1).\17\ Where the respondent reported 
reliable entered values, the Department intends to calculate importer- 
(or customer) specific ad valorem rates by aggregating the dumping 
margins calculated for all U.S. sales to the importer (or customer) and 
dividing this amount by the total entered value of the sales to the 
importer (or customer).\18\ Where the Department calculates an 
importer- (or customer) specific weighted-average dumping margin by 
dividing the total amount of dumping for reviewed sales to the importer 
(or customer) by the total sales quantity associated with those 
transactions, the Department will direct CBP to assess importer- (or 
customer) specific assessment rates based on the resulting per-unit 
rates.\19\ We will instruct CBP to assess antidumping duties on all 
appropriate entries covered by this review when the importer-specific 
assessment rate is above de minimis. Where either the respondent's 
weighted average dumping margin is zero or de minimis, or an importer 
(or customer-) specific ad valorem or per-unit rate is zero or de 
minimis, the Department will instruct CBP to liquidate appropriate 
entries without regard to antidumping duties.\20\
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    \16\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1).
    \17\ See Antidumping Proceedings: Calculation of the Weighted 
Average Dumping Margin and Assessment Rate in Certain Antidumping 
Proceedings: Final Modification, 77 FR 8101 (February 14, 2012) 
(``Final Modification'').
    \18\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1).
    \19\ Id.
    \20\ See Final Modification at 8103.
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    On October 24, 2011, the Department announced a refinement to its 
assessment practice in NME antidumping duty cases.\21\ Pursuant to this 
refinement in practice, for entries that were not reported in the U.S. 
sales database submitted by an exporter individually examined during 
this review, the Department will instruct CBP to liquidate such entries 
at the PRC-wide rate. Additionally, pursuant to this refinement, if the 
Department determines that an exporter under review had no shipments of 
the subject merchandise, any suspended entries that entered under that 
exporter's case number will be liquidated at the PRC-wide rate.
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    \21\ See Non-Market Economy Antidumping Proceedings: Assessment 
of Antidumping Duties, 76 FR 65694 (October 24, 2011), for a full 
discussion of this practice.
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    In accordance with section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act, the final 
results of this review shall be the basis for the assessment of 
antidumping duties on entries of merchandise covered by the final 
results of this review and for future deposits of estimated duties, 
where applicable.

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The Department will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to 
the weighted-average amount by which the normal value exceeds U.S. 
price. The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon 
publication of the final results of this administrative review for 
shipments of the subject merchandise from the PRC entered, or withdrawn 
from warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date, as 
provided by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) For the exporters 
listed above, the cash deposit rate will be equal to the weighted-
average dumping margin established in the final results of this review 
(except, if the rate is zero or de minimis, then the cash deposit rate 
will be zero for that exporter); (2) for previously investigated PRC 
and non-PRC exporters not listed above that have separate rates, the 
cash deposit rate will continue to be the exporter-specific rate 
published for the most recently completed segment of this proceeding; 
(3) for all 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 154.07 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 non-PRC exporter. These deposit requirements, when 
imposed, shall remain in effect until further notice.

Notification to Importers

    This notice also serves as a preliminary 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 POR. Failure to comply with this 
requirement could result in the Department's presumption that 
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of double antidumping duties.
    We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.213.

    Dated: July 31, 2015.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum

1. Summary
2. Background
3. Scope of the Order
4. Selection of Respondents
5. Preliminary Determination of No Shipments
6. Single Entity Treatment
7. Discussion of the Methodology
    a. Non-Market Economy Country
    b. Separate Rate
    c. Surrogate Country
    d. Date of Sale
    e. Comparisons to Normal Value
    f. U.S. Price
    g. Normal Value
    h. Currency Conversion
8. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2015-19482 Filed 8-6-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P