[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 51 (Friday, March 17, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14314-14316]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-05431]



[[Page 14313]]

Vol. 82

Friday,

No. 51

March 17, 2017

Part III





Department of Commerce





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 International Trade Administration





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Certain Amorphous Silica Fabric From the People's Republic of China: 
Countervailing Duty Order and Antidumping Duty Order; Notices

  Federal Register / Vol. 82 , No. 51 / Friday, March 17, 2017 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-038]


Certain Amorphous Silica Fabric 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 an antidumping duty order on certain 
amorphous silica fabric from the People's Republic of China (PRC).

DATES: Effective March 17, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Hoefke or Fred Baker, 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) 482-4947 or (202) 482-2924, 
respectively.

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 25, 
2017, the Department published the final determination of sales at less 
than fair value in the antidumping duty investigation of certain 
amorphous silica fabric from the PRC.\1\ On March 10, 2017, the ITC 
notified the Department of its final determination pursuant to section 
735(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, 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 imports of certain amorphous silica fabric from the 
PRC.\2\ In addition, in its final determination, the ITC did not make 
an affirmative critical circumstances finding with respect to imports 
of subject merchandise from the PRC that are subject to the 
Department's final affirmative critical circumstances finding.\3\
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    \1\ See Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Amorphous 
Silica Fabric From the People's Republic of China: Final Affirmative 
Determination of Sales at Less-Than-Fair Value, and Final 
Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, 82 FR 8399 
(January 25, 2017) (Final Determination), 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 certain amorphous silica fabric from China (March 10, 
2017) (ITC Letter).
    \3\ Id.
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Scope of the Order

    The product covered by this order is woven (whether from yarns or 
rovings) industrial grade amorphous silica fabric, which contains a 
minimum of 90 percent silica (SiO2) by nominal weight, and a nominal 
width in excess of 8 inches. The order covers industrial grade 
amorphous silica fabric regardless of other materials contained in the 
fabric, regardless of whether in roll form or cut-to-length, regardless 
of weight, width (except as noted above), or length. The order covers 
industrial grade amorphous silica fabric regardless of whether the 
product is approved by a standards testing body (such as being Factory 
Mutual (FM) Approved), or regardless of whether it meets any 
governmental specification.
    Industrial grade amorphous silica fabric may be produced in various 
colors. The order covers industrial grade amorphous silica fabric 
regardless of whether the fabric is colored. Industrial grade amorphous 
silica fabric may be coated or treated with materials that include, but 
are not limited to, oils, vermiculite, acrylic latex compound, 
silicone, aluminized polyester (Mylar[supreg]) film, pressure-sensitive 
adhesive, or other coatings and treatments. The order covers industrial 
grade amorphous silica fabric regardless of whether the fabric is 
coated or treated, and regardless of coating or treatment weight as a 
percentage of total product weight. Industrial grade amorphous silica 
fabric may be heat-cleaned. The order covers industrial grade amorphous 
silica fabric regardless of whether the fabric is heat-cleaned.
    Industrial grade amorphous silica fabric may be imported in rolls 
or may be cut-to-length and then further fabricated to make welding 
curtains, welding blankets, welding pads, fire blankets, fire pads, or 
fire screens. Regardless of the name, all industrial grade amorphous 
silica fabric that has been further cut-to-length or cut-to-width or 
further finished by finishing the edges and/or adding grommets, is 
included within the scope of this order.
    Subject merchandise also includes (1) any industrial grade 
amorphous silica fabric that has been converted into industrial grade 
amorphous silica fabric in China from fiberglass cloth produced in a 
third country; and (2) any industrial grade amorphous silica fabric 
that has been further processed in a third country prior to export to 
the United States, including but not limited to treating, coating, 
slitting, cutting to length, cutting to width, finishing the edges, 
adding grommets, or any other processing that would not otherwise 
remove the merchandise from the scope of the order if performed in the 
country of manufacture of the in-scope industrial grade amorphous 
silica fabric.
    Excluded from the scope of the order is amorphous silica fabric 
that is subjected to controlled shrinkage, which is also called ``pre-
shrunk'' or ``aerospace grade'' amorphous silica fabric. In order to be 
excluded as a pre-shrunk or aerospace grade amorphous silica fabric, 
the amorphous silica fabric must meet the following exclusion criteria: 
(l) The amorphous silica fabric must contain a minimum of 98 percent 
silica (SiO2) by nominal weight; (2) the amorphous silica fabric must 
have an areal shrinkage of 4 percent or less; (3) the amorphous silica 
fabric must contain no coatings or treatments; and (4) the amorphous 
silica fabric must be white in color. For purposes of this scope, 
``areal shrinkage'' refers to the extent to which a specimen of 
amorphous silica fabric shrinks while subjected to heating at 1800 
degrees F for 30 minutes.\4\
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    \4\ Areal shrinkage is expressed as the following percentage:
    ((Fired Area, cm2 - Initial Area, cm2)/Initial Area, cm2) x 100 
= Areal Shrinkage, %
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    Also excluded from the scope are amorphous silica fabric rope and 
tubing (or sleeving). Amorphous silica fabric rope is a knitted or 
braided product made from amorphous silica yarns. Silica tubing (or 
sleeving) is braided into a hollow sleeve from amorphous silica yarns.
    The subject imports are normally classified in subheadings 
7019.59.4021, 7019.59.4096, 7019.59.9021, and 7019.59.9096 of the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), but may also 
enter under HTSUS subheadings 7019.40.4030, 7019.40.4060, 7019.40.9030, 
7019.40.9060, 7019.51.9010, 7019.51.9090, 7019.52.9010, 7019.52.9021, 
7019.52.9096 and 7019.90.1000. HTSUS subheadings are provided for 
convenience and customs purposes only; the written description of the 
scope of this order is dispositive.

Antidumping Duty Order

    In accordance with sections 735(b)(1)(A)(i) and 735(d) of the Act, 
the ITC has notified the Department of its final determination in this 
investigation, in which it found that imports of certain amorphous 
silica fabric from the PRC are materially injuring a U.S. industry.\5\

[[Page 14315]]

Therefore, in accordance with section 735(c)(2) of the Act, we are 
publishing this antidumping duty order. Because the ITC determined that 
imports of certain amorphous silica fabric 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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    \5\ See ITC Letter.
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    As a result of the ITC's final determination, 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 certain 
amorphous silica fabric from the PRC. These antidumping duties will be 
assessed on unliquidated entries from the PRC entered, or withdrawn 
from warehouse, for consumption on or after September 1, 2016, the date 
on which the Department published the Preliminary Determination,\6\ 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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    \6\ See Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Amorphous 
Silica Fabric from the People's Republic of China: Affirmative 
Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less-Than-Fair Value, 
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, and 
Postponement of Final Determination, 81 FR 60341 (September 1, 2016) 
(Preliminary Determination).
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Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, we will 
instruct CBP to continue to suspend liquidation on all relevant entries 
of subject merchandise from the PRC. These instructions suspending 
liquidation will remain in effect until further notice.
    We will also instruct CBP to require cash deposits at rates equal 
to the estimated weighted-average dumping margins indicated in the 
chart below, adjusted where appropriate for export subsidies and 
estimated domestic subsidy pass-through.\7\ Accordingly, effective on 
the date of publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury 
determination, CBP will require, at the same time as importers would 
normally deposit estimated duties on this subject merchandise, a cash 
deposit at the rates listed below.\8\ The rate for the PRC-wide entity 
applies to all producers or exporters not specifically listed. For the 
purpose of determining cash deposit rates, the estimated weighted-
average dumping margins for imports of subject merchandise from the PRC 
will be adjusted, as appropriate, for export subsidies found in the 
final determination of the companion countervailing duty investigation 
of this merchandise imported from the PRC.\9\
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    \7\ No party in the less-than-fair-value investigation 
established eligibility for an adjustment for estimated domestic 
subsidy pass-through. See Preliminary Determination, unchanged in 
Final Determination.
    \8\ See section 736(a)(3) of the Act.
    \9\ See Final Determination.
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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 exporters that account for a significant 
portion of certain amorphous silica fabric from the PRC, the Department 
extended the four-month period to six months. In the underlying 
investigation, the Department published the Preliminary Determination 
on September 1, 2016.\10\ Therefore, the six-month period beginning on 
the date of the publication of the Preliminary Determination ended on 
February 27, 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. 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 certain amorphous silica 
fabric from the PRC entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption after February 27, 2017, the date the provisional measures 
expired, and through the day preceding the date of publication of the 
ITC's final injury determination in the Federal Register.
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    \10\ See Preliminary Determination.
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Estimated Weighted-Average Dumping Margin

    The weighted-average antidumping duty margin percentages and cash 
deposit percentages are as follows:

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                                                                                     Weighted-
                                                                                      average      Cash deposit
                   Exporter                                 Producer              dumping margin     (percent)
                                                                                     (percent)
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ACIT (Pinghu) Inc.............................  ACIT (Pinghu) Inc...............          162.47          151.93
Nanjing Tianyuan Fiberglass Material Co., Ltd.  Nanjing Tianyuan Fiberglass               162.47          151.71
                                                 Material Co., Ltd.
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                                 PRC-Wide Entity                                          162.47          151.93
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Critical Circumstances

    In its final determination, the ITC did not make an affirmative 
critical circumstances finding with respect to imports of subject 
merchandise from the PRC that were subject to the Department's final 
affirmative critical circumstances determination. Accordingly, the 
Department will instruct CBP to lift suspension and to refund any cash 
deposit made to secure the payment of estimated antidumping duties with 
respect to entries of the merchandise entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after June 3, 2016 (i.e., 90 days 
prior to the date of publication of the preliminary determination), but 
before September 1, 2016, the publication date of the Preliminary 
Determination.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This notice constitutes the antidumping duty order with respect to 
certain amorphous silica fabric 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://www.trade.gov/enforcement/.

[[Page 14316]]

    This order is published in accordance with section 736(a) of the 
Act and 19 CFR 351.211(b).

    Dated: March 14, 2017.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2017-05431 Filed 3-16-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P