[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 17, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4850-4852]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00843]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-050]


Ammonium Sulfate From the People's Republic of China: Final 
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) determines that 
countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters 
of ammonium sulfate from the People's Republic of China (PRC). The 
period of investigation is January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015.

DATES: Effective January 17, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Galantucci, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone (202) 482-2923.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On November 2, 2016, the Department published its preliminary 
affirmative determination that countervailable subsidies are being 
provided to producers and exporters of ammonium sulfate from the PRC in 
the Federal Register.\1\ We invited interested parties to comment on 
our Preliminary Determination, and/or request a hearing. No party, 
including the mandatory respondents \2\ and the Government of China 
(GOC), submitted comments or requested a hearing.
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    \1\ See Countervailing Duty Investigation of Ammonium Sulfate 
from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative 
Determination, 81 FR 76332 (November 2, 2016) (Preliminary 
Determination).
    \2\ The Department selected Wuzhoufeng Agricultural Science & 
Technology Co. Ltd. (Wuzhoufeng AST) and Yantai Jiahe Agriculture 
Means of Production Co. Ltd. (Yantai AMP) as mandatory respondents.
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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.

Verification

    None of the mandatory respondents in this investigation provided 
information requested by the Department. Hence, no verification was 
conducted.

Use of Adverse Facts Available (AFA)

    As discussed above, we received no comments from interested parties 
pertaining to the Preliminary Determination. Therefore, for this final 
determination, and pursuant to sections 776(a)-(d) of the Tariff Act of 
1930, as amended (the Act), we continue to rely on facts available for 
Wuzhoufeng AST and Yantai AMP, the two mandatory respondents, and the 
GOC, which did not respond to our countervailing duty 
questionnaires.\3\ Further, we continue to find that Wuzhoufeng AST, 
Yantai AMP, and the GOC failed to act to the best of their ability and, 
therefore, we are drawing an adverse inference in selecting from among 
the facts otherwise available to determine whether the programs subject 
to this investigation constitute countervailable subsidies and to 
calculate the ad valorem rates for Wuzhoufeng AST and Yantai AMP.\4\
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    \3\ See Memorandum, '' Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation 
of Ammonium Sulfate from the People's Republic of China,'' dated 
October 24, 2016 (Preliminary Decision Memorandum) at 1-2, 5-7 and 
Attachment 1.
    \4\ See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.
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    For this final determination, as AFA, we continue to find all 
programs

[[Page 4851]]

included in this proceeding to be countervailable, i.e., they provide a 
financial contribution within the meaning of sections 771(5)(B)(i) and 
(D) of the Act, confer a benefit within the meaning of section 
771(5)(E) of the Act, and are specific within the meaning of section 
771(5A) of the Act.\5\ The Department's calculation of the AFA rate was 
discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum which is incorporated 
by reference, and hereby adopted by, this final determination.\6\ 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 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 Memorandum can be accessed directly 
at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum and the electronic version of the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \5\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum at 6-10.
    \6\ See id. at Attachment 1.
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Final Determination

    In accordance with section 705(c)(1)(B)(i) of the Act, we 
calculated countervailing duty rates for the individually investigated 
producers/exporters of the subject merchandise, Wuzhoufeng AST and 
Yantai AMP.
    With respect to the ``all-others'' rate, section 705(c)(5)(A)(ii) 
of the Act provides that if the countervailing duty rates established 
for all exporters and producers individually investigated are 
determined entirely in accordance with section 776 of the Act, the 
Department may use any reasonable method to establish an all-others 
rate for exporters and producers not individually investigated. In this 
case, the rates assigned to Wuzhoufeng AST and Yantai AMP are based 
entirely on facts otherwise available, with adverse inferences, under 
section 776 of the Act. Because there is no other information on the 
record with which to determine an all-others rate, in accordance with 
section 705(c)(5)(A)(ii) of the Act, we have established the all-others 
rate by applying the countervailable subsidy rates for mandatory 
respondents Wuzhoufeng AST and Yantai AMP. The final countervailable 
subsidy rates are summarized in the table below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                         Company                             (percent)
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Wuzhoufeng Agricultural Science & Technology Co. Ltd....          206.72
Yantai Jiahe Agriculture Means of Production Co. Ltd....          206.72
All-Others..............................................          206.72
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Suspension of Liquidation

    As a result of our Preliminary Determination, and pursuant to 
sections 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, we instructed U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend all entries of ammonium sulfate 
from the PRC, as described in the ``Scope of the Investigation,'' that 
were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
November 2, 2016, the date of the publication of the Preliminary 
Determination in the Federal Register. Additionally, at that time, we 
instructed CBP to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing 
duties at the rates determined in the Preliminary Determination.\7\ The 
suspension of liquidation and collection of cash deposits will remain 
in effect until further notice.
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    \7\ See Preliminary Determination, 81 FR at 76332.
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    If the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issues a final 
affirmative injury determination, we will issue a CVD order and will 
instruct CBP to continue to suspend liquidation under section 706(a) of 
the Act and to continue to require a cash deposit of estimated CVDs for 
such entries of merchandise in the amounts indicated above. If the ITC 
determines that material injury, or threat of material injury, does not 
exist, this proceeding will be terminated and all estimated duties 
deposited, or securities posted as a result of the suspension of 
liquidation, will be refunded or canceled.

Disclosure

    We described the calculations used to determine CVD rates based on 
AFA in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\8\ Thus, no additional 
disclosure of calculations is necessary for this final determination.

ITC Notification
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    \8\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum at ``Application of AFA: 
Wuzhoufeng AST and Yantai AMP, and the GOC.''
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    In accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
ITC of our determination. In addition, we are making available to the 
ITC all non-privileged and non-proprietary information related to this 
investigation. We will allow the ITC access to all privileged and 
business proprietary information in our files, provided the ITC 
confirms it will not disclose such information, either publicly or 
under an administrative protective order (APO), without the written 
consent of the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Notification Regarding APOs

    This notice will serve as a reminder to the parties subject to APO 
of their responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary 
information disclosed under APOs in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305. 
Timely written 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 terms of an APO 
is a sanctionable violation.
    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
705(d) and 777(i) of the Act.

    Dated: January 9, 2017.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope Comments
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Injury Test
VI. Application of the CVD Law to Imports From the PRC
VII. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
VIII. Calculation of the All-Others Rate
IX. ITC Notification
X. Public Comment
XI. 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

[[Page 4852]]

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. 2017-00843 Filed 1-13-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P