[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 12 (Wednesday, January 20, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3105-3108]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-01024]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-471-807]


Certain Uncoated Paper From Portugal: Final Determination of 
Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Negative Determination of 
Critical Circumstances

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') determines 
that certain uncoated paper (``uncoated paper'') from Portugal is 
being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair 
value (``LTFV''), as provided in section 735(a) of the Tariff Act of 
1930, as amended (``the Act''). The period of investigation (``POI'') 
is January 1, 2014, through December 31, 2014. The final dumping 
margins of sales at LTFV are listed below in the ``Final 
Determination'' section of this notice.

DATES: Effective: January 20, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kabir Archuletta, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office V, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
2593.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 3106]]

Background

    On August 26, 2015, the Department published the Preliminary 
Determination of this antidumping duty (``AD'') investigation.\1\ The 
following events occurred since the Preliminary Determination was 
issued.
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    \1\ See Certain Uncoated Paper From Portugal: Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of 
Final Determination, 80 FR 51777 (August 26, 2015) (``Preliminary 
Determination'').
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    Between September and December 2015, the Department received 
supplemental questionnaire responses and revised databases from 
Portucel S.A. (``Portucel''), the sole mandatory respondent in this 
investigation.
    On December 4, 2015, Petitioners\2\ and Portucel submitted properly 
filed case briefs.\3\ On December 9, 2015, Petitioners and Portucel 
submitted properly filed rebuttal briefs.\4\
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    \2\ Petitioners are United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, 
Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers 
International Union; Domtar Corporation; Finch Paper LLC; P.H. 
Glatfelter Company; and Packaging Corporation of America.
    \3\ See Letter to the Secretary of Commerce from Petitioners 
``Case Brief Submitted on behalf of Petitioners'' (December 7, 2015, 
2015) (``Petitioners' Case Brief''); Letter to the Secretary of 
Commerce from Portucel ``Case Brief of Portucel, S.A. and Portucel 
Soporcel N.A.'' (December 4, 2015) (``Portucel's Case Brief'').
    \4\ See Letter to the Secretary of Commerce from Petitioners 
``Rebuttal Brief Submitted on behalf of Petitioners'' (December 9, 
2015) (``Petitioners' Rebuttal Brief''); Letter to the Secretary of 
Commerce from Portucel ``Portucel's Rebuttal Brief'' (December 1, 
2015) (``Portucel's Rebuttal Brief'').
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Scope of the Investigation and Scope Comments

    The product covered by this investigation is uncoated paper from 
Portugal. For a complete description of the scope of the investigation, 
see the ``Scope of the Investigation,'' in Appendix I of this notice, 
which incorporates changes made subsequent to the Preliminary 
Determination.
    On October 2, 2015, Gartner Studios submitted a case brief 
regarding the scope of the investigations. On October 19, 2015, 
American Greetings Corporation (``American Greetings'') submitted a 
case brief regarding the scope of the investigations.\5\ On October 29, 
2015, Petitioners submitted a rebuttal brief regarding the scope of the 
investigations.\6\ The Department is issuing a scope comments decision 
memorandum for the final determinations of the AD and countervailing 
duty investigations of uncoated paper, which is incorporated by 
reference in, and hereby adopted by, this final determination.\7\ As 
explained in the Final Scope Decision Memorandum, to facilitate the 
scope's administrability and enforcement, we have clarified the scope 
language such that uncoated paper with ``final printed content'' is 
excluded from the scope of the investigations.
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    \5\ See Letter to the Secretary of Commerce from American 
Greetings ``Certain Uncoated Paper From Australia, Brazil, The 
People's Republic of China, Indonesia, and Portugal: Case Brief of 
American Greetings Corporation'' (October 19, 2015).
    \6\ See Letter to the Secretary of Commerce from Petitioners 
``Certain Uncoated Paper From Australia, Brazil, The People's 
Republic of China, Indonesia, and Portugal: Scope Rebuttal Brief'' 
(October 20, 2015).
    \7\ See the Department's Memorandum to the File ``Less-Than-
Fair-Value Investigations of Certain Uncoated Paper from Australia, 
Brazil, the People's Republic of China, Indonesia, and Portugal; and 
Countervailing Duty Investigations of Certain Uncoated Paper from 
the People's Republic of China and Indonesia: Scope Comments 
Decision Memorandum for the Final Determinations,'' dated January 8, 
2016 (``Final Scope Decision Memorandum'').
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Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties in 
this investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, 
which is hereby adopted by this notice.\8\ A list of the issues raised 
is attached to this notice as Appendix II. The Issues and 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 and it is available to 
all parties in the Central Records Unit, room B-8024 of the main 
Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/index.html. The signed and electronic 
versions of the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in 
content.
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    \8\ See Memorandum to Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations 
``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the Final Determination of the 
Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Uncoated Paper from 
Portugal'' (January 8, 2016) (``Issues and Decision Memorandum'').
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Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, in September and October 
2015, the Department verified the sales and cost data reported by 
Portucel, pursuant to section 782(i) of the Act. We used standard 
verification procedures, including an examination of relevant 
accounting and production records, and original source documents 
provided by Portucel.\9\
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    \9\ See Memorandum to the File, through Neal Halper, Office 
Director, and Taija Slaughter, Lead Accountant, from Stephanie 
Arthur, Senior Accountant, ``Verification of the Cost Response of 
Portucel S.A. in the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Uncoated 
Paper from Portugal'' (November 12, 2015); Memorandum to the File, 
through Catherine Bertrand, Program Manager, Office V, from Kabir 
Archuletta and Frances Veith, Senior International Trade Analysts, 
``Verification of Home Market Sales of Portucel S.A. (`Portucel') in 
the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Uncoated Paper from 
Portugal'' (November 24, 2015); Memorandum to the File, through 
Catherine Bertrand, Program Manager, Office V, from Kabir Archuletta 
and Frances Veith, Senior International Trade Analysts, 
``Verification of U.S. Sales of Portucel S.A. (`Portucel') in the 
Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Uncoated Paper from 
Portugal'' (November 24, 2015).
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received and our findings at 
verification, we made certain changes to the margin calculations for 
Portucel. For a discussion of these changes, see the ``Margin 
Calculations'' section of the Issues and Decision Memorandum. We have 
also revised the all-others rate.

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. Portucel is the only respondent for which the Department 
calculated a company-specific rate. Therefore, for purposes of 
determining the all-others rate and pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(A) of 
the Act, we are using the dumping margin calculated for Portucel, as 
referenced in the ``Final Determination'' section below.

Final Determination

    The Department determines that the final weighted-average dumping 
margins are as follows:
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    \10\ In the Preliminary Determination we found that Portucel is 
affiliated with sales subsidiaries Portucel Soporcel Lusa, 
Unipessoal, Lda. (``Lusa''), and Portucel Soporcel Fine Paper, S.A. 
(``Fine Paper''), production subsidiaries About the Future, S.A. 
(``About the Future''), Portucel Papel Setubal, S.A. (``Setubal''), 
and Soporcel, Sociedade Portuguesa de Papel, S.A. (``Soporcel'') and 
U.S. subsidiary Portucel Soporcel North America, Inc., pursuant to 
sections 771(33)(B), (E) and (F) of the Act, and that Portucel, Fine 
Paper, Lusa, About the Future, Setubal and Soporcel are a single 
entity for purposes of the Department's analysis in this 
investigation, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.401(f). See Preliminary 
Determination and accompanying Decision Memorandum at 4-5; 
Memorandum to the File from Kabir Archuletta, Senior International 
Trade Analyst, Office V, through Catherine Bertrand, Program 
Manager, Office V ``Preliminary Affiliation Memorandum'' (August 19, 
2015). Because no interested parties submitted comments on this 
issue, the Department's determination remains unchanged for this 
final determination.

[[Page 3107]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Weighted-average
                Exporter/Manufacturer                   dumping margin
                                                           (percent)
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Portucel S.A. \10\..................................                7.80
All-Others..........................................                7.80
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Disclosure

    We will disclose the calculations performed to interested parties 
within five days of the public announcement of this final determination 
in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Final Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances

    On November 4, 2015, the Department found that critical 
circumstances exist with respect to imports of uncoated paper from 
Portugal from Portucel and all other exporters or producers.\11\ Based 
on Portucel's final dumping margin and further analysis following the 
Preliminary Critical Circumstances Determination, we are modifying our 
findings for the final determination. For a complete discussion of this 
issue, see the ``Negative Finding of Critical Circumstances'' section 
of the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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    \11\ See Certain Uncoated Paper From Portugal: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances in the 
Antidumping Duty Investigation, 80 FR 68293, 68294-5 (November 4, 
2015) (``Preliminary Critical Circumstances Determination'').
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Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, the Department 
will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to continue 
to suspend liquidation of all appropriate entries of uncoated paper 
from Portugal, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which were 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
August 26, 2015, the date of publication of the Preliminary 
Determination of this investigation in the Federal Register.
    Further, CBP shall require a cash deposit equal to the estimated 
amount by which the normal value exceeds the U.S. price, as follows: 
(1) The rate for Portucel will be the rate we determined in this final 
determination; (2) if the exporter is not a firm identified in this 
investigation but the producer is, the rate will be the rate 
established for the producer of the subject merchandise; (3) the rate 
for all other producers or exporters will be 7.80 percent. These 
instructions suspending liquidation will remain in effect until further 
notice.
    Because of our negative determination of critical circumstances, we 
will instruct CBP to refund all cash deposits posted on merchandise 
under consideration from Portugal entered, or withdrawn from warehouse 
for consumption, prior to August 26, 2015 (i.e., the date of 
publication of the Preliminary Determination).

ITC Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
ITC of the final affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. Because 
the final determination in this proceeding is affirmative, in 
accordance with section 735(b)(2) of the Act, the ITC will 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 uncoated paper from Portugal no later than 45 days 
after our final determination. If the ITC determines that material 
injury or threat of material injury does not exist, the proceeding will 
be terminated and all cash deposits will be refunded. If the ITC 
determines that such injury does exist, the Department will issue an 
antidumping duty order directing CBP to assess, upon further 
instruction by the Department, antidumping duties on all imports of the 
subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of 
liquidation.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders (``APO'')

    This notice serves as a reminder to parties subject to APO of their 
responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary information 
disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely 
notification of the return or destruction of APO materials, or 
conversion to judicial protective order, is hereby requested. Failure 
to comply with the regulations and the terms of an APO is a violation 
subject to sanction.
    This determination and this notice are issued and published 
pursuant to sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: January 8, 2016.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by the investigation includes uncoated 
paper in sheet form; weighing at least 40 grams per square meter but 
not more than 150 grams per square meter; that either is a white 
paper with a GE brightness level\1\ of 85 or higher or is a colored 
paper; whether or not surface-decorated, printed (except as 
described below), embossed, perforated, or punched; irrespective of 
the smoothness of the surface; and irrespective of dimensions 
(``Certain Uncoated Paper'').
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    \1\ One of the key measurements of any grade of paper is 
brightness. Generally speaking, the brighter the paper the better 
the contrast between the paper and the ink. Brightness is measured 
using a GE Reflectance Scale, which measures the reflection of light 
off a grade of paper. One is the lowest reflection, or what would be 
given to a totally black grade, and 100 is the brightest measured 
grade. ``Colored paper'' as used in this scope definition means a 
paper with a hue other than white that reflects one of the primary 
colors of magenta, yellow, and cyan (red, yellow, and blue) or a 
combination of such primary colors.
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    Certain Uncoated Paper includes (a) uncoated free sheet paper 
that meets this scope definition; (b) uncoated ground wood paper 
produced from bleached chemi-thermo-mechanical pulp (``BCTMP'') that 
meets this scope definition; and (c) any other uncoated paper that 
meets this scope definition regardless of the type of pulp used to 
produce the paper.
    Specifically excluded from the scope are (1) paper printed with 
final content of printed text or graphics and (2) lined paper 
products, typically school supplies, composed of paper that 
incorporates straight horizontal and/or vertical lines that would 
make the paper unsuitable for copying or printing purposes. For 
purposes of this scope definition, paper shall be considered 
``printed with final content'' where at least one side of the sheet 
has printed text and/or graphics that cover at least five percent of 
the surface area of the entire sheet.
    Imports of the subject merchandise are provided for under 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) categories 
4802.56.1000, 4802.56.2000, 4802.56.3000, 4802.56.4000, 
4802.56.6000, 4802.56.7020, 4802.56.7040, 4802.57.1000, 
4802.57.2000, 4802.57.3000, and 4802.57.4000. Some imports of 
subject merchandise may also be classified under 4802.62.1000, 
4802.62.2000, 4802.62.3000, 4802.62.5000, 4802.62.6020, 
4802.62.6040, 4802.69.1000, 4802.69.2000, 4802.69.3000, 4811.90.8050 
and 4811.90.9080. While HTSUS subheadings are provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the 
scope of the investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Margin Calculations
V. List of Comments
VI. Discussion of Comments
    Comment 1: Water Supplied by Portucel's Affiliated Pulp Mills
    Comment 2: Purchases of Eucalyptus Pulp From Affiliates

[[Page 3108]]

    Comment 3: Critical Circumstances
    Comment 4: Advertising Expenses
    Comment 5: Insurance Expenses
    Comment 6: Other Data Revisions Based on Verification Findings
    Comment 7: Minor Corrections Presented at Verification
    Comment 8: Portucel's Transposition Error
VII. Negative Finding of Critical Circumstances

[FR Doc. 2016-01024 Filed 1-19-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P