[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 199 (Thursday, October 15, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62021-62023]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-26261]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-523-810]


Certain Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin From the Sultanate of 
Oman: Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value and Postponement of Final Determination

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

DATES: Effective Date: October 15, 2015.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``Department'') preliminarily 
determines that certain polyethylene terephthalate resin (``PET 
resin'') from the Sultanate of Oman (``Oman'') is being, or is likely 
to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (``LTFV''), as 
provided in section 733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the 
``Act''). The period of investigation is January 1, 2014, through 
December 31, 2014. The estimated weighted-average dumping margins are 
shown in the ``Preliminary Determination'' section of this notice. 
Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary 
determination.

[[Page 62022]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jonathan Hill, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
3518.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Department published the notice of initiation of this 
investigation on April 6, 2015.\1\ Pursuant to section 733(c)(1)(A) of 
the Act, the Department postponed this preliminary LTFV determination 
by 50 days until October 6, 2015.\2\
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    \1\ 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) (``Initiation Notice'').
    \2\ See Certain Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin from Canada, 
the People's Republic of China, India, and the Sultanate of Oman: 
Postponement of Preliminary Determinations of Antidumping Duty 
Investigations, 80 FR 45640 (July 31, 2015).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is polyethylene 
terephthalate (``PET'') resin. The merchandise subject to this 
investigation is properly classified under subheading 3907.60.00.30 of 
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Although 
the HTSUS subheading is provided for convenience and customs purposes, 
the written description of the merchandise under investigation is 
dispositive.
    For a full description of the scope of this investigation, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum, hereby adopted by this notice.\3\ 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 https://access.trade.gov, 
and is available to all parties in the Department's 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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    \3\ See Memorandum from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary, Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations to Paul 
Piquado, Assistant Secretary, Enforcement and Compliance ``Certain 
Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin From the Sultanate of Oman: 
Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination in the 
Antidumping Duty Investigation,'' (``Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum'') dated concurrently with and hereby adopted by this 
notice. A list of the topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum appears in Appendix I, below.
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Scope Comments

    The Initiation Notice provided interested parties an opportunity to 
raise issues regarding product coverage (scope). However, no party to 
the proceeding provided scope comments.

Methodology

    The Department is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Export prices (``EP'') and constructed export 
prices (``CEP'') have been calculated in accordance with section 772 of 
the Act. Normal value (``NV'') has been calculated in accordance with 
section 773 of the Act. For a full description of the methodology 
underlying our conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, 
hereby adopted by this notice.

All Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated ``all 
others'' rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted-average of the 
estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for exporters 
and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero or de 
minimis dumping margins, and any dumping margins determined entirely 
under section 776 of the Act. We based our calculation of the ``all 
others'' rate on the dumping margin calculated for OCTAL SAOC--FZC 
(``OCTAL''), the only mandatory respondent in this investigation. This 
margin was not zero or de mininis and it was not determined entirely 
under section 776 of the Act.

Preliminary Determination

    The Department preliminarily determines that the following 
weighted-average dumping margins exist during the period January 1, 
2014, through December 31, 2014:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Weighted-
                                                               average
                    Producer or exporter                       dumping
                                                                margin
                                                              (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OCTAL SAOC--FZC............................................         6.62
All Others.................................................         6.62
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, the Department 
will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to suspend 
liquidation of all entries of PET resin from Oman, as described in the 
``Scope of the Investigation'' section, entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register. Pursuant to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the 
Act and 19 CFR 351.205(d), we will instruct CBP to require a cash 
deposit \4\ equal to the weighted-average amount by which the NV 
exceeds EP, or CEP as indicated in the chart above. These suspension of 
liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
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    \4\ See Modification of Regulations Regarding the Practice of 
Accepting Bonds During the Provisional Measures Period in 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations, 76 FR 61042 
(October 3, 2011).
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    We intend to disclose the calculations performed to parties in this 
proceeding within five days after public announcement of the 
preliminary determination in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). Case 
briefs or other written comments 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 submitting case briefs.\5\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) 
and (d)(2), parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this 
proceeding are encouraged to submit with each argument: (1) A statement 
of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a table of 
authorities.
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    \5\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c); see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
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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, filed electronically using 
ACCESS. All documents must be filed electronically using ACCESS. An 
electronically filed hearing request must be received successfully in 
its entirety by ACCESS, by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, within 30 days after 
the date of publication of this notice.\6\ Hearing 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 time and date to be determined. Parties 
should confirm by telephone the

[[Page 62023]]

date, time, and location of the hearing two days before the scheduled 
date.
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    \6\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, the Department intends 
to verify the information submitted by OCTAL and its affiliates prior 
to making a final determination in this investigation.

Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

    Section 735(a)(2) of the Act provides that a final determination 
may be postponed until not later than 135 days after the date of the 
publication of the preliminary determination if, in the event of an 
affirmative preliminary determination, a request for such postponement 
is made by exporters who account for a significant proportion of 
exports of the subject merchandise, or in the event of a negative 
preliminary determination, a request for such postponement is made by 
the petitioner. 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2) requires that requests by 
respondents for postponement of a final antidumping determination be 
accompanied by a request for extension of provisional measures from a 
four-month period to a period not more than six months in duration.
    OCTAL requested that, contingent upon an affirmative preliminary 
determination of sales at LTFV for OCTAL, the Department postpone its 
final determination pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2).\7\ In addition, 
OCTAL requested to extend the application of the provisional measures 
prescribed under section 733(d) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2), 
from a four-month period to a period not to exceed six months.
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    \7\ See Letter from OCTAL to the Secretary of Commerce ``OCTAL's 
Request for Extension of Final Determination and Provisional 
Measures Certain Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Resin from the 
Sultanate of Oman,'' dated September 24, 2015.
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    In accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(b)(2)(ii) and (e)(2), because: (1) Our preliminary 
determination is affirmative; (2) the requesting exporter accounts for 
a significant proportion of exports of the subject merchandise; and (3) 
no compelling reasons for denial exist, we are postponing the final 
determination and extending the provisional measures from a four-month 
period to a period not greater than six months. Accordingly, we will 
make our final determination no later than 135 days after the date of 
publication of this preliminary determination, pursuant to section 
735(a)(2) of the Act.\8\
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    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.210(e).
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U.S. International Trade Commission (``ITC'') Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we will notify the 
ITC of our preliminary affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. 
Because the preliminary determination in this proceeding is 
affirmative, section 735(b)(2) of the Act requires that the ITC make 
its final determination as to whether the domestic industry in the 
United States is materially injured, or threatened with material 
injury, by reason of imports of PET resin from Oman before the later of 
120 days after the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days 
after our final determination. Because we are postponing the deadline 
for our final determination to 135 days from the date of publication of 
this preliminary determination, as discussed above, the ITC will make 
its final determination no later than 45 days after our final 
determination.
    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: October 6, 2015.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I: List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Postponement of Preliminary Determination
V. Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures
VI. Scope of the Investigation
VII. Scope Comments
VIII. Discussion of Methodology
    A. Fair Value Comparisons
    1. Determination of the Comparison Method
    2. Results of the Differential Pricing Analysis
    B. Product Comparisons
    C. Date of Sale
    D. U.S. Price
    E. Normal Value
    1. Comparison-Market Viability
    2. Level of Trade
    3. Calculation of Normal Value Based on Comparison Market Prices
    4. Calculation of Normal Value Based on Constructed Value
    F. Cost of Production
    1. Calculation of COP
    2. Test of Comparison Market Sales Prices
    3. Results of COP Test
IX. Currency Conversion
X. Verification
XI. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2015-26261 Filed 10-14-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P