[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 157 (Friday, August 14, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48808-48809]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-20086]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-523-811]


Certain Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin From the Sultanate of 
Oman: Preliminary Negative Countervailing Duty Determination and 
Alignment of Final Countervailing Duty 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 de minimis countervailable subsidies are being provided 
to producers/exporters of certain polyethylene terephthalate resin (PET 
resin) from the Sultanate of Oman (Oman). The period of investigation 
is January 1, 2014, through December 31, 2014. Interested parties are 
invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

DATES: Effective Date: August 14, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Martin, AD/CVD Operations, 
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3936.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 30, 2015, the Department initiated 
this countervailing duty (CVD) investigation.\1\ On the same day, the 
Department also initiated an antidumping duty (AD) investigation of PET 
Resin from Oman.\2\ On May 7, 2015, in response to a request from the 
Petitioners,\3\ the Department postponed the preliminary determination 
in the CVD investigation.\4\
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    \1\ See Certain Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin from the 
People's Republic of China, India, and the Sultanate of Oman: 
Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigations, 80 FR 18369 (April 
6, 2015).
    \2\ See Certain Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin From Canada, 
the People's Republic of China, India, and the Sultanate of Oman: 
Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 80 FR 18376 
(April 6, 2015).
    \3\ DAK Americas, LLC, M&G Chemicals, and Nan Ya Plastics 
Corporation, America, (Petitioners).
    \4\ See Certain Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin From the 
People's Republic of China, India and the Sultanate of Oman: 
Postponement of Preliminary Determinations in the Countervailing 
Duty Investigations, 80 FR 27635 (May 14, 2015).
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Alignment of Final Countervailing Duty Determination With Final 
Antidumping Duty Determination

    In accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act) and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(4), and based on Petitioners' 
request,\5\ we are aligning the final CVD determination in this 
investigation with the final determination in the companion AD 
investigation of PET Resin from Oman. 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 
December 21, 2015, unless postponed.\6\
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    \5\ See Letter from Petitioners, ``Investigation of Certain 
Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin from Oman--Petitioners' Request to 
Align the Countervailing Duty Final Determination with the Companion 
Antidumping Duty Final Determination,'' (July 31, 2015).
    \6\ The actual deadline is 75 days after the date of the 
preliminary determinations, or December 20, 2015, which is a Sunday. 
Department practice dictates that where a deadline falls on a 
weekend or federal holiday, the appropriate deadline is the next 
business day (in this instance, December 21, 2015). See Notice of 
Clarification: Application of ``Next Business Day'' Rule for 
Administrative Determination Deadlines Pursuant to the Tariff Act of 
1930, As Amended, 70 FR 24533 (May 10, 2005).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is PET resin. The 
merchandise subject to this investigation is properly classified under 
subheading 3907.60.00.30 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the

[[Page 48809]]

United States (HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheading is provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the 
merchandise under investigation is dispositive.\7\
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    \7\ See Memorandum from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to 
Ronald K. Lorentzen, Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance regarding ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Negative Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation of 
Certain Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin from the Sultanate of 
Oman,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice 
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum). For a list of topics discussed in 
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, see the Appendix to this 
notice.
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Methodology

    The Department is conducting this CVD investigation in accordance 
with section 701 of the Act. For a full description of the methodology 
underlying our preliminary conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum. The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a public document 
and is on file electronically via Enforcement and Compliance's 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service 
System (``ACCESS''). ACCESS is available to registered users at https://access.trade.gov/login.aspx 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 accessed directly on the Internet at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/index.html. The signed Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum and the electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum are identical in content.

Preliminary Determination

    We preliminarily determine the countervailable subsidy rate to be:
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    \8\ In accordance with section 703(b)(4) of the Act, we are 
disregarding de minimis subsidies for the purposes of this 
preliminary determination.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Company                           Subsidy rate
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OCTAL SAOC-FZC and OCTAL Holding SAOC.....  0.28 percent (de minimis)
                                             \8\
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    Consistent with section 703(b)(4)(A) of the Act, we have 
disregarded de minimis rates and preliminarily determine that 
countervailable subsides are not being provided with respect to the 
manufacture, production or exportation of the subject merchandise in 
Oman. Consistent with section 703(d) of the Act, the Department has not 
calculated an all-others rate because it has not reached an affirmative 
preliminarily determination. Because the estimated subsidy rate for the 
examined company is de minimis, we will not direct U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection to suspend liquidation of entries of subject 
merchandise from Oman.

Verification

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

International Trade Commission

    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)(3) of the 
Act, if our final determination is affirmative, the lTC will make its 
final determination within 75 days after we make our final 
determination.

Disclosure and Public Comment

    The Department intends to disclose to interested parties the 
calculations performed in connection with this preliminary 
determination within five days of its public announcement.\9\ 
Interested parties may submit case and rebuttal briefs,\10\ and request 
a hearing.\11\ For a schedule of the deadlines for filing case briefs, 
rebuttal briefs, and hearing requests, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
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    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c) and (d).
    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.510.
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    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: August 7, 2015.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

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

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Alignment
IV. Scope Comments
V. Scope of the Investigation
VI. Injury Test
VII. Subsidies Valuation
VIII. Analysis of Programs
IX. Calculation of the All Others Rate
X. United States International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification
XI. Disclosure and Public Comment
XII. Verification
XIII. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2015-20086 Filed 8-13-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P