[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 199 (Thursday, October 15, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62029-62032]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-26262]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-533-861]


Certain Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin From India: Affirmative 
Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Affirmative 
Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances, 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 (the Department) preliminarily 
determines that certain polyethylene terephthalate resin (PET resin) 
products from India are being, or are 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fred Baker or Robert James, 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-
2924 or (202) 482-0649.

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 these investigations is polyethylene 
terephthalate (PET) resin
    The merchandise subject to these investigations is properly 
classified

[[Page 62030]]

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 the 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 ``Decision 
Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination in the Antidumping Duty 
Investigation of Certain Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin from 
India,'' (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 the Appendix 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 price (EP) has 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.

Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances

    On July 16, 2015, petitioners filed a timely critical circumstances 
allegation, pursuant to section 773(e)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.206(c)(1), alleging that critical circumstances exist with respect 
to imports of the merchandise under consideration.\4\ In accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.206(c)(2)(i), when a critical circumstances allegation 
is submitted more than 20 days before the scheduled date of the 
preliminary determination, the Department must issue a preliminary 
finding whether there is a reasonable basis to believe or suspect that 
critical circumstances exist no later than the date of the preliminary 
determination. We have conducted an analysis of critical circumstances 
in accordance with section 733(c) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206, and 
preliminarily determine that: (1) There is a history of dumping and 
material injury by reason of dumped imports in the United States or 
elsewhere of the subject merchandise in accordance with section 
733(e)(1)(A)(i) of the Act; and (2) imports of the subject merchandise 
have been massive over a relatively short period in accordance with 
section 733(e)(1)(B) of the Act. Therefore, we preliminarily determine 
that critical circumstances exist. For a full description of the 
methodology and results of our analysis, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
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    \4\ See letter from Petitioners, ``Certain Polyethylene 
Terephthalate Resin--Critical Circumstances Allegation,'' date July 
16, 2015.
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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 margins, and margins determined entirely under section 776 of 
the Act. In this investigation, we calculated weighted-average dumping 
margins for both mandatory respondents that are above de minimis and 
which are not based on section 776 of the Act. However, because there 
are only two relevant weighted-average dumping margins for this final 
determination, using a weighted-average of these two rates risks 
disclosure of business proprietary data. Therefore, the Department 
assigned a margin to the all-others rate companies based on the simple 
average of the two mandatory respondents' rates.

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)
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Dhunseri Petrochem, Ltd.................................           19.41
Ester Industries, Ltd...................................           10.68
JBF Industries, Ltd.....................................           19.41
Reliance Industries, Ltd................................            6.31
All Others..............................................            8.50
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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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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), 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 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\ 
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 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

[[Page 62031]]

the information submitted by Ester and Reliance prior to making a final 
determination in this investigation.

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 India 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 \7\ equal to the weighted-average amount by which the NV 
exceeds EP as indicated in the chart above, adjusted where appropriate 
for export subsidies.\8\ These suspension of liquidation instructions 
will remain in effect until further notice.
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    \7\ 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).
    \8\ See section 772(c)(1)(C) of the Act. Unlike in 
administrative reviews, the Department calculates the adjustment for 
export subsidies in investigations not in the margin calculation 
program, but in the cash deposit instructions issued to CBP. See 
Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and 
Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances: Certain Lined 
Paper Products from India, 71 FR 45012 (August 8, 2006), and 
accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 1.
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    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 \9\ equal to the 
weighted-average amount by which NV exceeds EP, as indicated in the 
chart above, as follows: (1) The rate for Dhunseri, when adjusted for 
export subsidies, is 14.28 percent; (2) the rate for Ester, when 
adjusted for export subsidies, is 5.55 percent; (3) the rate for JBF, 
when adjusted for export subsidies, is 0.00 percent; (4) the rate for 
Reliance, when adjusted for export subsidies, is 1.18, (5) if the 
exporter is not a firm identified in this investigation, but the 
producer is, then the rate will be the rate established for the 
producer of the subject merchandise; (6) the rate for all other 
producers or exporters, when adjusted for export subsidies, will be 
3.37 percent. These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain 
in effect until further notice.
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    \9\ 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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    Section 733(e)(2) of the Act provides that, given an affirmative 
determination of critical circumstances, any suspension of liquidation 
shall apply to unliquidated entries of merchandise entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the later of (a) 
the date which is 90 days before the date on which the suspension of 
liquidation was first ordered, or (b) the date on which notice of 
initiation of the investigation was published. As described above, we 
preliminarily find that critical circumstances exist for imports 
produced or exported by all Indian exporters. Therefore, in accordance 
with section 733(e)(2)(A) of the Act, the suspension of liquidation 
shall apply to unliquidated entries of merchandise entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date which is 
90 days before the publication of this notice.

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.
    Reliance requested that, in the event of an affirmative preliminary 
determination in this investigation, the Department postpone its final 
determination by 60 days (i.e., to 135 days after publication of the 
preliminary determination) pursuant to section 735(a)(2)(A) and 19 CFR 
351.210(b)(2)(ii), and agreed 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.\10\
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    \10\ See letter from Reliance 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 exporters account 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.\11\ The suspension of liquidation described above will be extended 
accordingly.
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    \11\ 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 India 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 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

[[Page 62032]]

    2. Level of Trade
    3. Calculation of Normal Value Based on Comparison Market Prices
    F. Cost of Production
    1. Calculation of COP
    2. Test of Comparison Market Sales Prices
    3. Results of COP Test
IX. Facts Available
X. Critical Circumstances
XI. Currency Conversion
XII. U.S. International Trade Commission Notification
XIII. Disclosure and Public Comment
XIV. Verification
XV. Adjustments for Countervailable Subsidies
XVI. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2015-26262 Filed 10-14-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P