[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 122 (Friday, June 24, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41292-41294]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-15007]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-037]


Countervailing Duty Investigation of Certain Biaxial Integral 
Geogrid Products From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary 
Determination and Alignment of Final 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 countervailable subsidies are being provided to 
producers and exporters of certain biaxial integral geogrid products 
(``geogrids'') from the People's Republic of China (the ``PRC''). The 
period of investigation is January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2015. 
We invite interested parties to comment on this preliminary 
determination.

DATES: Effective Date: June 24, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob Palmer or Ryan Mullen, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office V, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone 202.482.9068 or 202.482.5260, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are geogrids from the 
PRC. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see 
Appendix II.

Methodology

    The Department is conducting this countervailing duty (``CVD'') 
investigation in accordance with section 701 of the Tariff Act of 1930, 
as amended (the ``Act''). For a full description of the methodology 
underlying our preliminary conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memo.\1\ The Preliminary Decision Memo is a public document and is on 
file electronically via Enforcement & Compliance's Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (``ACCESS''). 
ACCESS is available to registered users at http://access.trade.gov, 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 Memo can be accessed directly on 
the Internet at http://trade.gov/enforcement/frn/index.html. The signed 
Preliminary Decision Memo and the electronic versions of the 
Preliminary Decision Memo are identical in content.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See Memorandum from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to 
Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, 
``Countervailing Duty Investigation of Certain Biaxial Integral 
Geogrid Products from the People's Republic of China: Decision 
Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination,'' dated concurrently 
with this notice (``Preliminary Decision Memo'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Department notes that, in making these findings, we relied, in 
part, on facts available and, because one or more respondents did not 
act to the best of their ability to respond to the Department's 
requests for information, we drew an adverse inference, where 
appropriate, in selecting from among the facts otherwise available.\2\ 
For further information, see ``Use of Facts Otherwise Available and 
Adverse Inferences'' in the Preliminary Decision Memo.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alignment

    As noted in the Preliminary Decision Memo, in accordance with 
section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(4), we are aligning 
the final CVD determination in this investigation with the final 
determination in the companion antidumping duty (``AD'') investigation 
of geogrids from the PRC.\3\ 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 October 31, 2016, unless 
postponed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ See Certain Biaxial Integral Geogrid Products from the 
People's Republic of China: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigation, 81 FR 7755 (February 16, 2016).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preliminary Determination and Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 703(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, we 
calculated an estimated individual countervailable subsidy rate for 
each producer/exporter of the subject merchandise individually 
investigated. We preliminarily determine these rates to be:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        Company                           Subsidy rate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOSTD Geosynthetics Qingdao Ltd. and Beijing Orient                16.60
 Science & Technology Development Co., Ltd............
Taian Modern Plastic Co., Ltd.........................             30.65
All Others............................................             23.63
Chengdu Tian Road Engineering Materials Co., Ltd *....            128.27
Chongqing Jiudi Reinforced Soil Engineering Co., Ltd *            128.27
CNBM International Corporation *......................            128.27
Dezhou Yaohua Geosynthetics Ltd *.....................            128.27
Dezhou Zhengyu Geosynthetics Ltd *....................            128.27

[[Page 41293]]

 
Hongye Engineering Materials Co., Ltd *...............            128.27
Hubei Nete Geosynthetics Ltd *........................            128.27
Jiangsu Dingtai Engineering Material Co., Ltd *.......            128.27
Jiangsu Jiuding New Material Ltd *....................            128.27
Lewu New Material Ltd *...............................            128.27
Nanjing Jinlu Geosynthetics Ltd *.....................            128.27
Nanjing Kunchi Composite Material Ltd *...............            128.27
Nanyang Jieda Geosynthetics Co., Ltd *................            128.27
Qingdao Hongda Plastics Corp *........................            128.27
Shandong Dexuda Geosynthetics Ltd *...................            128.27
Shandong Haoyang New Engineering Materials Co., Ltd *.            128.27
Shandong Tongfa Glass Fiber Ltd *.....................            128.27
Shandong Xinyu Geosynthetics Ltd *....................            128.27
Tai'an Haohua Plastics Co., Ltd *.....................            128.27
Taian Hengbang Engineering Material Co., Ltd *........            128.27
Taian Naite Geosynthetics Ltd *.......................            128.27
Taian Road Engineering Materials Co., Ltd *...........            128.27
Tenax*................................................            128.27
Hengshui Zhongtiejian Group Co *......................            128.27
Qingdao Sunrise Dageng Import and Export Co., Ltd *...            128.27
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Non-cooperative company to which an adverse facts available rate is
  being applied. See ``Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse
  Inferences'' section in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

    In accordance with section 703(d)(2) of the Act, we will direct 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to suspend liquidation of 
all entries of geogrids from the PRC 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. Section 703(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. We preliminarily found 
that critical circumstances exist for imports produced or exported by 
BOSTD Geosynthetics Qingdao Ltd. and the all other companies. 
Therefore, in accordance with section 703(e)(2)(A) of the Act, 
suspension of liquidation of geogrids from the PRC, as described in the 
``Scope of the Investigation'' section, 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, the date suspension of liquidation is first 
ordered. Because we preliminarily found critical circumstances do not 
exist for Taian Modern Plastic Co., Ltd., we will begin suspension of 
liquidation for such firms on the date of publication of this notice in 
the Federal Register. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), the Department 
will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the amounts 
indicated above.
    In accordance with sections 703(d) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act, for 
companies not investigated, we apply an ``all-others'' rate, which is 
normally calculated by weighting the subsidy rates of the individual 
companies selected as mandatory respondents by those companies' exports 
of the subject merchandise to the United States. Under section 
705(c)(5)(i) of the Act, the all-others rate should exclude zero and de 
minimis rates calculated for the exporters and producers individually 
investigated as well as rates based entirely on facts otherwise 
available. Notwithstanding the language of section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of 
the Act, we have not calculated the ``all-others'' rate by weighted 
averaging the rates of the two individually investigated respondents, 
because doing so risks disclosure of proprietary information. 
Therefore, for the ``all-others'' rate, we calculated a simple average 
of the two responding firms' rates.

Disclosure and Public Comment

    The Department will disclose calculations performed for this 
preliminary determination to the parties within five days of the date 
of public announcement of this determination in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.224(b). Case briefs or other written comments for all non-scope 
issues 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 case briefs.\4\ A table of 
contents, list of authorities used and an executive summary of issues 
should accompany any briefs submitted to the Department. This summary 
should be limited to five pages total, including footnotes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ See 19 CFR 351.309; see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for general 
filing requirements).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Interested parties who wish to request a hearing, or to participate 
if one is requested, must submit a written request to the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, 
filed electronically using ACCESS. An electronically filed document 
must be received successfully in its entirety by the Department's 
electronic records system, ACCESS, by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, 
within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.\5\ 
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 date, time and 
location to be determined. Parties will be notified of the date, time 
and location of any hearing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

International Trade Commission Notification

    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

[[Page 41294]]

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)(2) of the Act, if our final 
determination is affirmative, the ITC will make its final determination 
within 45 days after the Department makes its final determination.
    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: June 17, 2016.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memo

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope Comments
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Alignment
VI. Respondent Selection
VII. Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances
VIII. Injury Test
IX. Application of Countervailing Duty Law to Imports from the PRC
X. Subsidies Valuation
XI. Benchmarks and Interest Rates
XII. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
XIII. Analysis of Programs
XIV. Verification
XV. Conclusion

Appendix II

    The merchandise covered by the investigation is certain biaxial 
integral geogrid products. Biaxial integral geogrid products are a 
polymer grid or mesh material (whether or not finished, slit, cut-
to-length, attached to woven or non-woven fabric or sheet material, 
or packaged) in which four-sided openings in the form of squares, 
rectangles, rhomboids, diamonds, or other four-sided figures 
predominate. The products covered have integral strands that have 
been stretched to induce molecular orientation into the material (as 
evidenced by the strands being thinner toward the middle between the 
junctions than at the junctions themselves) constituting the sides 
of the openings and integral junctions where the strands intersect. 
The scope includes products in which four-sided figures predominate 
whether or not they also contain additional strands intersecting the 
four-sided figures and whether or not the inside corners of the 
four-sided figures are rounded off or not sharp angles. As used 
herein, the term ``integral'' refers to strands and junctions that 
are homogenous with each other. The products covered have a tensile 
strength of greater than 5 kilonewtons per meter (``kN/m'') 
according to American Society for Testing and Materials (``ASTM'') 
Standard Test Method D6637/D6637M in any direction and average 
overall flexural stiffness of more than 100,000 milligram-centimeter 
according to the ASTM D7748/D7748M Standard Test Method for Flexural 
Rigidity of Geogrids, Geotextiles and Related Products, or other 
equivalent test method standards.
    Subject merchandise includes material matching the above 
description that has been finished, packaged, or otherwise further 
processed in a third country, including by trimming, slitting, 
coating, cutting, punching holes, stretching, attaching to woven or 
non-woven fabric or sheet material, or any other finishing, 
packaging, or other further processing that would not otherwise 
remove the merchandise from the scope of the investigation if 
performed in the country of manufacture of the biaxial integral 
geogrid.
    The products subject to the scope are currently classified in 
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (``HTSUS'') 
under the following subheading: 3926.90.9995. Subject merchandise 
may also enter under subheadings 3920.20.0050 and 3925.90.0000. The 
HTSUS subheadings set forth above are provided for convenience and 
U.S. Customs purposes only. The written description of the scope is 
dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2016-15007 Filed 6-23-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P