[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 217 (Wednesday, November 9, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78776-78777]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-26984]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-049]


Ammonium Sulfate From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (``the Department'') 
preliminarily determines that ammonium sulfate from the People's 
Republic of China (``PRC'') is, or is likely to be, sold in the United 
States at less than fair value (``LTFV''). The period of investigation 
(``POI'') is October 1, 2015, through March 31, 2016. Interested 
parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

DATES: Effective November 9, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maliha Khan or Thomas Martin, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office IV, Enforcement & Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0892 or (202) 482-3936 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 25, 2016, PCI Nitrogen, LLC, filed a 
petition with the Department of Commerce alleging that an industry in 
the United States is materially injured or threatened with material 
injury by reason of LTFV imports of certain ammonium sulfate from the 
PRC. The Department published the notice of initiation of this 
investigation on June 22, 2016.\1\ For a complete description of the 
events that followed the initiation of this investigation, see 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum hereby adopted by this notice.\2\ The 
Preliminary 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 to all parties in the Central Records Unit located at Room B8024 of 
the Department's main building. In addition, a complete version of the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be found at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn. The signed Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
and electronic version of Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical 
in content.
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    \1\ See Ammonium Sulfate from the People's Republic of China: 
Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation, 81 FR 40665 (June 
22, 2016) (``Initiation Notice'').
    \2\ See Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination of 
the Less Than Fair Value Investigation of Ammonium Sulfate from the 
People's Republic of China (``Preliminary Decision Memorandum''), 
dated concurrently with this notice. See also Appendix I.
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Period of Investigation

    The POI is October 1, 2015, through March 31, 2016. This period 
corresponds to the two most recent fiscal quarters prior to the month 
of the filing of the petition, May 2016. See 19 CFR 351.204(b)(1).

Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is ammonium sulfate from 
the PRC. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, 
see Appendix II.
    In accordance with the Preamble to the Department's regulations,\3\ 
and as stated in the Initiation Notice, the Department set aside a 
period for interested parties to raise issues regarding the scope. The 
Department did not receive any comments in response.
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    \3\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, 62 FR 27296, 
27323 (May 19, 1997) (``Preamble'').
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Discussion of Methodology

    The Department is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. For purposes of this preliminary LTFV 
determination, the Department continues to treat the PRC as a non-
market economy country within the meaning of section 771(18) of the 
Act. Because none of the potential respondents in this investigation 
submitted separate rate applications, they are considered to be part of 
the PRC-wide entity. Further, the PRC-wide entity did not provide 
necessary quantity-and-value (``Q&V'') data the Department requested. 
Therefore, in making this preliminary determination and in accordance 
with sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, because respondents failed to 
cooperate by not acting to the best of their ability to respond to the 
Department's requests for information, we are drawing an adverse 
inference in selecting a rate from among the facts otherwise available 
(``AFA'') in determining the dumping margin for the PRC-wide entity. 
For a full description of the methodology underlying our conclusions, 
see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Preliminary Determination

    In selecting an AFA rate, the Department selects a rate that is 
sufficiently adverse to ensure that the uncooperative party does not 
obtain a more favorable result by failing to cooperate than if it had 
fully cooperated. In an investigation, the Department's practice with 
respect to the assignment of an AFA rate is to select the higher of (1) 
the highest dumping margin alleged in the petition or (2) the highest 
calculated dumping margin of any respondent in the investigation.\4\ 
Therefore, as AFA, the Department preliminarily assigns the highest 
available petition margin of 493.46 percent as the rate applicable to 
the PRC-wide entity.
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    \4\ See, e.g., Certain Uncoated Paper From Indonesia: Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 81 FR 3101 (January 
20, 2016).
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Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, the Department 
will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') to suspend 
liquidation of all entries of ammonium sulfate 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.
    We will also instruct CBP, pursuant to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the 
Act and 19 CFR 351.205(d), to require for all PRC exporters/producers 
of merchandise under consideration, and all non-PRC exporters of 
merchandise under consideration, the cash deposit rate established for 
the PRC-wide entity, 493.46 percent.\5\ The suspension of liquidation 
will remain in effect until further notice.
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    \5\ See Modification of Regulations Regarding the Practice of 
Accepting Bonds During the Provisional Measures Period in 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations, 76 FR 61042, 
64137 (October 3, 2011).
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    The Department ordinarily discloses the calculations performed in 
the investigation to interested parties in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.224(b), however, in this proceeding there are no calculations to 
disclose. Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for

[[Page 78777]]

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.\6\ 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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    \6\ See 19 CFR 351.309. 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. 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 Time, within 30 
days after the date of publication of this notice.\7\ Hearing requests 
should contain the party's name, address, and telephone number, the 
number of participants, and a list of the issues parties intend to 
present at the hearing. If a request for a hearing is made, the 
Department intends to hold the hearing at the U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230, at a time 
and location 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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    \7\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (``ITC'') of our affirmative preliminary 
determination of sales at LTFV. If our final determination is 
affirmative, the ITC will determine before the later of 120 days after 
the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days after our final 
determination whether these imports are materially injuring, or 
threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry.
    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(I) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: November 1, 2016.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

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

1. Summary
2. Background
3. Period of Investigation
4. Scope Comments
5. Scope of the Investigation
6. Selection of Respondents
7. Discussion of the Methodology
8. Adjustments to Cash Deposit Rates for Export Subsidies in 
Companion Countervailing Duty Investigation
9. Public Comment
10. U.S. International Trade Commission Notification
11. Conclusion

Appendix II--Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is ammonium 
sulfate in all physical forms, with or without additives such as 
anti-caking agents. Ammonium sulfate, which may also be spelled as 
ammonium sulphate, has the chemical formula 
(NH4)2SO4.
    The scope includes ammonium sulfate that is combined with other 
products, including by, for example, blending (i.e., mixing granules 
of ammonium sulfate with granules of one or more other products), 
compounding (i.e., when ammonium sulfate is compacted with one or 
more other products under high pressure), or granulating 
(incorporating multiple products into granules through, e.g., a 
slurry process). For such combined products, only the ammonium 
sulfate component is covered by the scope of this investigation.
    Ammonium sulfate that has been combined with other products is 
included within the scope regardless of whether the combining occurs 
in countries other than China.
    Ammonium sulfate that is otherwise subject to this investigation 
is not excluded when commingled (i.e., mixed or combined) with 
ammonium sulfate from sources not subject to this investigation. 
Only the subject component of such commingled products is covered by 
the scope of this investigation.
    The Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) registry number for 
ammonium sulfate is 7783-20-2.
    The merchandise covered by this investigation is currently 
classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS) subheading 3102.21.0000. Although this HTSUS subheading and 
CAS registry number are provided for convenience and customs 
purposes, the written description of the scope of the investigation 
is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2016-26984 Filed 11-8-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P