[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 41 (Friday, March 3, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12440-12441]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-04131]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-036]


Certain Biaxial Integral Geogrid Products From the People's 
Republic of China: Antidumping Duty Order

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: Based on affirmative final determinations by the Department of 
Commerce (the Department) and the International Trade Commission (ITC), 
the Department is issuing the antidumping duty order on certain biaxial 
integral geogrid products (geogrids) from the People's Republic of 
China (PRC).

DATES: Effective March 3, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julia Hancock at (202) 482-1394, AD/
CVD Operations, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    In accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Tariff Act 
of 1930, as amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.210(c), on January 11, 
2017, the Department published its affirmative final determination in 
the less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigation of geogrids from the 
PRC.\1\ On February 24, 2017, the ITC notified the Department of its 
affirmative determination that an industry in the United States is 
materially injured within the meaning of section 735(b)(1)(A)(i) of the 
Act, by reason of the LTFV imports of geogrids from the PRC, and of its 
determination that critical circumstances do not exist with respect to 
imports of subject merchandise from the PRC that are subject to the 
Department's affirmative critical circumstances finding.\2\
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    \1\ See Certain Biaxial Integral Geogrid Products from the 
People's Republic of China: Final Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value, 82 FR 3284 (January 11, 2017) and accompanying 
Issues and Decision Memorandum.
    \2\ See Letter to Ronald Lorentzen, Acting Assistant Secretary 
of Commerce for Enforcement and Compliance, from Rhonda K. 
Schmidtlein, Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission, 
regarding geogrids from the PRC (February 24, 2016) (ITC Letter).
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Scope of the Order

    The scope of this order covers geogrids from the PRC. For a 
complete description of the scope, see Appendix.

Antidumping Duty Order

    On February 24, 2017, in accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, 
the ITC notified the Department of its final determination in this 
investigation, in which it found that an industry in the United States 
is materially injured by reason of imports of geogrids from the PRC, 
and that critical circumstances do not exist with respect to imports of 
subject merchandise that are subject to the Department's affirmative 
critical circumstances finding.\3\ Therefore, in accordance with 
section 735(c)(2) of the Act, the Department is issuing this 
antidumping duty order. Because the ITC determined that imports of 
geogrids from the PRC are materially injuring a U.S. industry, 
unliquidated entries of such merchandise from the PRC, entered or 
withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, are subject to the assessment 
of antidumping duties.
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    \3\ See ITC Letter.
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    Therefore, in accordance with section 736(a)(1) of the Act, the 
Department will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to 
assess, upon further instruction by the Department, antidumping duties 
equal to the amount by which the normal value of the merchandise 
exceeds the export price (or constructed export price) of the 
merchandise, for all relevant entries of geogrids from the PRC. 
Antidumping duties will be assessed on unliquidated entries of geogrids 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
August 22, 2016, the date of publication of the Preliminary 
Determination,\4\ but will not include entries occurring after the 
expiration of the provisional measures period and before publication of 
the ITC's final injury determination as further described below.
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    \4\ See Certain Biaxial Integral Geogrid Products from the 
People's Republic of China: Affirmative Preliminary Determination of 
Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Affirmative Determination of Critical 
Circumstances, in Part, and Postponement of Final Determination, 81 
FR 56584 (August 22, 2016) (Preliminary Determination) and 
accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, we will 
instruct CBP to reinstitute the suspension of liquidation of geogrids 
from the PRC. We will also instruct CBP to require cash deposits equal 
to the estimated amount by which the normal value exceeds the U.S. 
price as indicated in the chart below, adjusted where appropriate for 
export subsidies and estimated domestic subsidy pass-through.\5\ These 
instructions suspending liquidation will remain in effect until further 
notice.
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    \5\ See Final Determination, 82 FR at 3286 (describing the 
adjustments to the AD duty rate for the PRC-wide entity in more 
detail); see also sections 772(c)(1)(C) and 777A(f) of the Act, 
respectively.
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    Accordingly, effective on the date of publication of the ITC's 
final affirmative determinations, CBP will require, at the same time as 
importers would normally deposit estimated duties on this subject 
merchandise, a cash deposit equal to the estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins, adjusted where appropriate for export subsidies and 
estimated domestic subsidy pass-through.\6\ The ``PRC-wide'' rate 
applies to all exporters of subject merchandise.
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    \6\ Id. at 3286 (we did not make any adjustment to the cash 
deposit rates for export subsidy rates or domestic subsidy pass-
through).
    \7\ As discussed in the Final Determination, the PRC-wide entity 
includes BOSTD Geosynthetics Qingdao Ltd. (BOSTD) and Taian Modern 
Plastic Co., Ltd. (Taian Modern).

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 Weighted-
                                                  average        Cash
             Exporter or  producer                dumping      deposit
                                                   margin        rate
                                                 (percent)    (percent)
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PRC-Wide Entity \7\...........................      372.81       372.81
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Provisional Measures

    Section 733(d) of the Act states that instructions issued pursuant 
to an affirmative preliminary determination may not remain in effect 
for more than four months, except where exporters representing a 
significant proportion of exports of the subject merchandise request 
the Department to extend that four-month period to no more than six 
months. At the request of an exporter that accounted for a significant 
proportion of exports of geogrids from the PRC, we extended the four-
month period to no more than six-months.\8\ In the underlying 
investigation, the Department published the Preliminary Determination 
on August 22, 2016. Therefore, the six-month period beginning on the 
date of the publication of the Preliminary Determination ended

[[Page 12441]]

on February 22, 2017. Furthermore, section 737(b) of the Act states 
that definitive duties are to begin on the date of publication of the 
ITC's final injury determination.
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    \8\ See Preliminary Determination, 81 FR at 56586.
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    Therefore, in accordance with section 733(d) of the Act and our 
practice, we will instruct CBP to terminate the suspension of 
liquidation and to liquidate, without regard to antidumping duties, 
unliquidated entries of geogrids from the PRC entered, or withdrawn 
from warehouse, for consumption after February 22, 2017, the date the 
provisional measures expired, until and through the day preceding the 
date of publication of the ITC's final injury determination in the 
Federal Register. Suspension of liquidation will resume on the date of 
publication of the ITC's final determination in the Federal Register.

Critical Circumstances

    With regard to the ITC's negative critical circumstances 
determination on imports of geogrids from the PRC, we will instruct CBP 
to lift suspension and to refund any cash deposits made to secure the 
payment of estimated antidumping duties with respect to geogrids from 
the PRC entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after May 24, 2016 (i.e., 90 days prior to the date of publication of 
the Preliminary Determination), but before August 22, 2016 (i.e., the 
date of publication of the Preliminary Determination).
    However, for the one respondent, BOSTD, where we found critical 
circumstances at the Final Determination, we will instruct CBP to lift 
suspension and to refund any cash deposits made to secure payment of 
estimated antidumping duties with respect to geogrids entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption by BOSTD on or after October 
13, 2016 (i.e., 90 days prior to the date of publication of the Final 
Determination), but before January 11, 2017 (i.e., the date of 
publication of the Final Determination).

Notification to Interested Parties

    This notice constitutes the antidumping duty order with respect to 
geogrids from the PRC pursuant to section 736(a) of the Act. Interested 
parties can find a list of antidumping duty orders currently in effect 
at http://enforcement.trade.gov/stats/iastats1.html.
    This order is issued and published in accordance with section 
736(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.211(b).

    Dated: February 24, 2017.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

    The products covered by the scope are 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 in width 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 investigations 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. 2017-04131 Filed 3-2-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P