[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 49 (Monday, March 14, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13331-13334]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-05707]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-024]


Certain Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin From the People's 
Republic of China: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) determines that 
imports of certain polyethylene terephthalate resin (PET resin) from 
the People's Republic of China (PRC) are being sold in the United 
States at less than fair value (LTFV), as provided in section 735 of 
the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The final weighted-
average dumping margins of sales at LTFV are listed in the ``Final 
Determination Margins'' section, infra.

DATES: Effective Date: March 14, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Bezirganian or Tyler Weinhold, 
AD/CVD Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1131 or (202) 
482-1121, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On October 15, 2015, the Department of Commerce (Department) 
published in the Federal Register the preliminary determination in the 
LTFV investigation of PET resin from the PRC.\1\ For a

[[Page 13332]]

description of the events that have occurred since the Preliminary 
Determination, see the Issue and Decision Memorandum, which is hereby 
adopted by this notice.\2\ 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 
http://access.trade.gov and to all parties in the Central Records Unit, 
room B8024 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. The signed and electronic 
versions of the Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in 
content.
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    \1\ See Certain Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin From the 
People's Republic of China: Preliminary Determination of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination, 80 FR 
62024 (October 15, 2015) (Preliminary Determination). We later 
published a correction to that notice, which corrected errors in the 
weighted-average margin chart appearing in the Preliminary 
Determination (see Certain Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin From the 
People's Republic of China: Notice of Correction to Preliminary 
Affirmative Less Than Fair Value Determination, 80 FR 69643 
(November 10, 2015).
    \2\ See Memorandum from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to 
Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, 
``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the Final Determination of the 
Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Polyethylene Terephthalate 
Resin From the People's Republic of China,'' dated concurrently with 
this notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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    As explained in the memorandum from the Acting Assistant Secretary 
for Enforcement & Compliance, the Department has exercised its 
discretion to toll all administrative deadlines due to the recent 
closure of the Federal Government because of snowstorm ``Jonas.'' All 
deadlines in this segment of the proceeding have been extended by four 
business days. The revised deadline for the final determination of this 
investigation is now March 4, 2016.

Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation (POI) is July 1, 2014, through December 
31, 2014.

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is certain PET resin 
from the PRC. For a full description of the scope of the investigation, 
see Appendix I to this notice.

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 
accompanying this notice. A list of the issues raised and to which the 
Department responded is attached to this notice as Appendix II.

Changes to the Margin Calculations Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on the Department's analysis of the comments received and our 
findings at verification, we made certain changes to our margin 
calculations. For a discussion of these changes, see the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.

Combination Rates

    In the Initiation Notice,\3\ the Department stated that it would 
calculate combination rates for the respondents that are eligible for a 
separate rate in this investigation. Policy Bulletin 05.1 describes 
this practice.\4\
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    \3\ 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).
    \4\ See Enforcement and Compliance's Policy Bulletin No. 05.1, 
regarding, ``Separate-Rates Practice and Application of Combination 
Rates in Antidumping Investigations involving Non-Market Economy 
Countries,'' (April 5, 2005) (Policy Bulletin 05.1), available on 
the Department's Web site at http://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf.
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Separate Rate

    Under section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act, the rate for all other 
companies that have not been individually examined is normally an 
amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated weighted average 
dumping margins established for exporters and producers individually 
investigated, excluding any zero and de minimis margins, and any 
margins determined entirely on the basis of facts available. In this 
final determination, the Department has calculated rates for both 
mandatory respondents that are not zero, de minimis, or based entirely 
on facts available. Therefore, the Department has assigned to the 
companies that have not been individually examined but have 
demonstrated their eligibility for a separate rate a margin of 114.47 
percent, which is the weighted-average of Xingyu's and FEIS's margins 
using publicly-ranged quantities for their sales of subject 
merchandise.\5\
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    \5\ See Memorandum to the File entitled ``Final Determination of 
the Investigation of Certain Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin from 
the People's Republic of China: Calculation of the Final Margin for 
Separate Rate Companies,'' dated concurrently with this notice. With 
two respondents, we normally calculate: (A) A weighted-average of 
the dumping margins calculated for the mandatory respondents; (B) a 
simple average of the dumping margins calculated for the mandatory 
respondents; and (C) a weighted-average of the dumping margins 
calculated for the mandatory respondents using each company's 
publicly-ranged values for the merchandise under consideration. We 
compare (B) and (C) to (A) and select the rate closest to (A) as the 
most appropriate rate for all other companies. See Ball Bearings and 
Parts Thereof From France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United 
Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews, 
Final Results of Changed-Circumstances Review, and Revocation of an 
Order in Part, 75 FR 53661, 53663 (September 1, 2010).
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PRC-Wide Rate

    In our Preliminary Determination, we found that certain PRC 
exporters and/or producers of the merchandise under consideration 
during the POI did not respond to the Department's quantity and value 
questionnaire. As a result, we preliminarily determined to calculate 
the PRC-wide rate on the basis of adverse facts available (AFA). For 
the final determination, we have determined to use, as the AFA rate 
applied to the PRC-wide entity, 126.58 percent, the highest CONNUM-
specific dumping margin calculated in this final determination. 
Consistent with our practice, the Department selected Xingyu's highest 
CONNUM-specific margin, as AFA, because this rate is higher than the 
other rates in this investigation and therefore, sufficiently adverse 
to serve the purposes of facts available.\6\ Furthermore, there is no 
need to corroborate the selected margin because it is based on 
information submitted by Xingyu in the course of this investigation, 
i.e., it is not secondary information.\7\
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    \6\ See Issues and Decision Memorandum for a detailed 
discussion.
    \7\ See 19 CFR 351.308(c) and (d) and section 776(c) of the Act.
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Final Determination Margins

    The Department determines that the final weighted-average dumping 
margins, and cash deposit rates reflecting adjustments to the weighted-
average dumping margins to account for export subsidies and estimated 
domestic subsidy pass-through (see below for additional explanation), 
are as follows:

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                                                                                         Weighted-       Cash
                                                                                          average      deposit
                   Exporter                                    Producer                   marginl        rate
                                                                                         (percent)    (percent)
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Far Eastern Industries (Shanghai) Ltd. or       Far Eastern Industries (Shanghai) Ltd.       104.98        99.29
 Oriental Industries (Suzhou) Limited.\8\        or Oriental Industries (Suzhou)
                                                 Limited.

[[Page 13333]]

 
Jiangyin Xingyu New Material Co., Ltd. or       Jiangyin Xingyu New Material Co., Ltd.       118.32       114.25
 Jiangsu Xingye Plastic Co., Ltd. or Jiangyin    or Jiangsu Xingye Plastic Co., Ltd.
 Xingjia Plastic Co., Ltd. or Jiangyin Xingtai   or Jiangyin Xingjia Plastic Co., Ltd.
 New Material Co., Ltd. or Jiangsu Xingye        or Jiangyin Xingtai New Material Co.,
 Polytech Co., Ltd.\9\                           Ltd. or Jiangsu Xingye Polytech Co.,
                                                 Ltd.
Dragon Special Resin (XIAMEN) Co., Ltd........  Dragon Special Resin (XIAMEN) Co., Ltd       114.47       100.90
Hainan Yisheng Petrochemical Co., Ltd.........  Hainan Yisheng Petrochemical Co., Ltd.       114.47       105.75
Shanghai Hengyi Polyester Fiber Co., Ltd......  Shanghai Hengyi Polyester Fiber Co.,         114.47       105.75
                                                 Ltd.
Zhejiang Wankai New Materials Co., Ltd........  Zhejiang Wankai New Materials Co., Ltd       114.47       105.75
PRC-Wide Entity...............................  ......................................       126.58       125.75
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\8\ In the Preliminary Determination, we collapsed Oriental Industries (Suzhou) Limited with FEIS. No parties
  challenged those findings, and we are continuing to collapse those firms in this final determination.
\9\ In the Preliminary Determination, we collapsed four firms (Jiangsu Xingye Plastic Co., Ltd., Jiangyin
  Xingjia Plastic Co., Ltd., Jiangyin Xingtai New Material Co., Ltd., and Jiangsu Xingye Polytech Co., Ltd.)
  with Xingyu. No parties challenged those findings, and we are continuing to so collapse those firms in this
  final determination.

Disclosure

    We intend to disclose to parties in this proceeding the 
calculations performed for this final determination within five days of 
the date of public announcement of our final determination, in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    Pursuant to 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 entries of PET resin from the PRC, which 
were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
October 15, 2015, the date of publication in the Federal Register of 
the affirmative Preliminary Determination. Further, pursuant to section 
735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act, the Department will instruct CBP to 
require a cash deposit \10\ equal to the weighted-average amount by 
which the normal value exceeds U.S. price, adjusted where appropriate 
for export subsidies and estimated domestic subsidy pass-through,\11\ 
as follows: (1) For the exporter/producer combination listed in the 
table above, the cash deposit rate will be equal to the dumping margin 
which the Department determined in this final determination; (2) for 
all combinations of PRC exporters/producers of merchandise under 
consideration which have not received their own separate rate above, 
the cash deposit rate will be equal to the dumping margin established 
for the PRC-wide entity; and (3) for all non-PRC exporters of 
merchandise under consideration which have not received their own 
separate rate above, the cash deposit rate will be equal to the cash 
deposit rate applicable to the PRC exporter/producer combination that 
supplied that non-PRC exporter. The suspension of liquidation 
instructions will remain in effect until further notice.
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    \10\ 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).
    \11\ See sections 772(c)(1)(C) and 777A(f) of the Act, 
respectively.
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    Consistent with the Preliminary Determination and as noted above, 
where the product under investigation is also subject to a concurrent 
countervailing duty investigation, we instruct CBP to require a cash 
deposit less the amount of the countervailing duty determined to 
constitute any export subsidies or domestic subsidy pass through. 
Therefore, in the event that countervailing duty order is issued and 
suspension of liquidation is resumed in the companion countervailing 
duty investigation on PET resin from the PRC, the Department will 
instruct CBP to require cash deposits adjusted by the amount of export 
subsidies and domestic subsidy pass through, as appropriate. These 
adjustments are reflected in the final column of the rate chart, 
above.\12\ Until such suspension of liquidation is resumed in the 
companion countervailing duty investigation, and so long as suspension 
of liquidation continues under this antidumping duty investigation, the 
cash deposit rates for this antidumping duty investigation will be the 
rates identified in the weighted-average margin column in the rate 
chart, above.
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    \12\ For details regarding the calculation of these adjustments, 
see the March 4, 2016, memorandum to the File entitled ``Certain 
Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin From the People's Republic of 
China: Final Double Remedies Calculation Memorandum.''
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International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of our final determination. 
As our final determination is affirmative, in accordance with section 
735(b)(2) of the Act, the ITC will determine within 45 days whether the 
domestic industry in the United States is materially injured, or 
threatened with material injury, by reason of imports or sales (or the 
likelihood of sales) for importation of the subject merchandise. If the 
ITC determines that such injury exists, 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.

Return or Destruction of Proprietary Information

    This notice will serve as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely written 
notification of the 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 sanctionable violation.
    We are issuing and publishing this determination and notice in 
accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Act.


[[Page 13334]]


    Dated: March 4, 2016.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is polyethylene 
terephthalate (PET) resin having an intrinsic viscosity of at least 
0.70, but not more than 0.88, deciliters per gram. The scope 
includes blends of virgin PET resin and recycled PET resin 
containing 50 percent or more virgin PET resin content by weight, 
provided such blends meet the intrinsic viscosity requirements 
above. The scope includes all PET resin meeting the above 
specifications regardless of additives introduced in the 
manufacturing process. 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.

Appendix II--Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Investigation
IV. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
V. Use of Adverse Facts Available
VI. Description of the Issues
    Comment 1: PTA Value
    Comment 2: Brokerage and Handling Expense Source of Valuation
    Comment 3: Brokerage and Handling Expense Denominator's Cargo 
Load Volume
    Comment 4: Brokerage and Handling Expense Letter of Credit Cost
    Comment 5: Addition of Brokerage and Handling Expenses to FOP 
Surrogate Values
    Comment 6: Inland Freight Expense Source of Valuation
    Comment 7: Inland Freight Expense Denominator's Cargo Load 
Volume
    Comment 8: Inland Freight Expense Denominator's Distance
    Comment 9: Thai Labor Values
    Comment 10: Irrecoverable VAT
    Comment 11: FEIS Verification Minor Corrections
    Comment 12: FEIS Chilled Water
    Comment 13: FEIS Freight Distance for Factors of Production
    Comment 14: FEIS International Freight Expense
    Comment 15: FEIS U.S. Inland Freight Expense
    Comment 16: Xingyu Indirect Labor
    Comment 17: Xingyu IPA Consumption Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2016-05707 Filed 3-11-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P