[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 121 (Monday, June 26, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28824-28826]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-13285]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-580-889]


Dioctyl Terephthalate From the Republic of Korea: Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Negative 
Determination of Critical Circumstances

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) determines that 
dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP) from the Republic of Korea (Korea) is 
being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair 
value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is April 1, 2015, 
through March 31, 2016. For information on the estimated weighted-
average dumping margins of sales at LTFV, see the ``Final 
Determination'' section of this notice.

DATES: Effective June 26, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laurel LaCivita or Shanah Lee, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4243 or (202) 482-6386, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On February 3, 2017, the Department published the Preliminary 
Determination of sales at LTFV of DOTP from Korea.\1\ The petitioner in 
this investigation is Eastman Chemical Company. The mandatory 
respondents in this investigation are Aekyung Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 
(AKP) and LG Chem Ltd. (LG Chem). Both AKP and LG Chem participated in 
this investigation. A complete summary of the events that occurred 
since publication of the Preliminary Determination, as well as a full

[[Page 28825]]

discussion of the issues raised by parties for this final 
determination, may be found in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, 
which is dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this 
notice.\2\
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    \1\ See Dioctyl Terephthalate from the Republic of Korea: 
Affirmative Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value, Negative Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances, 
and Postponement of Final Determination, 82 FR 9195 (February 3, 
2017) (Preliminary Determination) and accompanying memorandum, 
``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination in the Less-
Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Dioctyl Terephthalate from the 
Republic of Korea'' (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
    \2\ See the Department's memorandum, ``Issues and Decision 
Memorandum for the Final Determination in the Antidumping Duty 
Investigation of Dioctyl Terephthalate From the Republic of Korea,'' 
dated concurrently with this notice (Issues and Decision 
Memorandum).
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    The Issues and Decision Memorandum is a public document and is 
available 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, Room B-8024 of the 
Department's main building. In addition, a complete version of the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Issues and Decision Memorandum 
and electronic version are identical in content.

Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is DOTP from Korea. For a 
complete description of the scope of this investigation, see Appendix 
I.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case briefs and rebuttal briefs submitted 
by interested parties in this proceeding are discussed in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum. A list of the issues raised by parties and 
responded to by the Department in the Issues and Decision Memorandum is 
attached at Appendix II.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), the Department verified the sales and cost data reported by 
AKP and LG Chem for use in our final determination. We used standard 
verification procedures, including an examination of relevant 
accounting and production records, and original source documents 
provided by the respondents.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received and our findings at 
verification, we made certain changes to the margin calculations for 
AKP and LG Chem since the Preliminary Determination. These changes are 
discussed in the ``Margin Calculations'' section of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.

Final Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances

    On November 15, 2016, the petitioner timely filed a critical 
circumstances allegation, pursuant to section 733(e)(1) of the Act and 
19 CFR 351.206(c)(1), alleging that critical circumstances exist with 
respect to imports of DOTP from Korea.\3\ We find that critical 
circumstances do not exist with respect to AKP and LG Chem.\4\ For a 
complete discussion of this issue, see the ``Final Negative 
Determination of Critical Circumstances'' section of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
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    \3\ See letter from Petitioner, ``Re: Dioctyl Terephthalate 
(``DOTP'') From Korea; Critical Circumstances Allegation,'' dated 
November 15, 2016 (Critical Circumstances Allegation).
    \4\ See Preliminary Determination, 82 FR at 9195.
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All-Others Rate

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B)(i)(I) of the Act, the 
Department calculated a dumping margin for the individually 
investigated exporters/producers of the subject merchandise. Consistent 
with sections 735(c)(1)(B)(i)(II) and 735(c)(5) of the Act, the 
Department also calculated an estimated ``all-others'' rate for 
exporters and producers not individually investigated. Section 
735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the ``all-others'' rate shall be 
an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated weighted-
average dumping margins established for individually investigated 
exporters and producers, excluding any margins that are zero or de 
minimis or any margins determined entirely under section 776 of the 
Act. We calculated the all-others rate using a weighted average of the 
dumping margins calculated for the mandatory respondents using each 
company's publicly-ranged values for the merchandise under 
consideration, pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act, as 
referenced in the ``Final Determination'' section below.\5\
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    \5\ See memorandum to the file, ``Dioctyl Terephthalate From the 
Republic of Korea: Calculation of All-Others' Rate in the Final 
Determination,'' dated concurrently with this notice.
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Final Determination

    The Department determines that the weighted-average dumping margins 
to be:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Weighted-
                                                               average
                     Exporter/producer                         margins
                                                              (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aekyung Petrochemical Co., Ltd.............................         4.08
LG Chem, Ltd...............................................         2.71
All-Others.................................................         3.69
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b), we intend to disclose the 
calculations performed to parties in this proceeding within five days 
of any public announcement of this notice.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, we will 
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue the 
suspension of liquidation of all appropriate entries of DOTP from 
Korea, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which were entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after February 3, 
2017, the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination of this 
investigation in the Federal Register. Further, the Department will 
instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the estimated amount by 
which the normal value exceeds the U.S. price as shown above.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) of the final affirmative 
determination of sales at LTFV. Because the final determination in this 
proceeding is affirmative, in accordance with section 735(b)(2) of the 
Act, the ITC will make its final determination as to whether the 
domestic industry in the United States is materially injured, or 
threatened with material injury, by reason of imports, or sales (or the 
likelihood of sales) for importation of DOTP from Korea no later than 
45 days after our final determination. If the ITC determines that 
material injury or threat of material injury does not exist, the 
proceeding will be terminated and all cash deposits will be refunded. 
If the ITC determines that such injury does exist, the Department will 
issue an antidumping duty order directing CBP to assess, upon further 
instruction by the Department, antidumping duties on all imports of the 
subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of 
liquidation.

[[Page 28826]]

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders (APO)

    This notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to an 
APO of their responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary 
information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.305(a)(3). Timely 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 the terms of an 
APO is a violation subject to sanction.
    This determination and this notice are issued and published 
pursuant to sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: June 20, 2017.
Gary Taverman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is dioctyl 
terephthalate (DOTP), regardless of form. DOTP that has been blended 
with other products is included within this scope when such blends 
include constituent parts that have not been chemically reacted with 
each other to produce a different product. For such blends, only the 
DOTP component of the mixture is covered by the scope of this 
investigation.
    DOTP that is otherwise subject to this investigation is not 
excluded when commingled with DOTP from sources not subject to this 
investigation. Commingled refers to the mixing of subject and non-
subject DOTP. Only the subject component of such commingled products 
is covered by the scope of the investigation.
    DOTP has the general chemical formulation 
C6H4(C8H17COO)2
 and a chemical name of ``bis (2-ethylhexyl) terephthalate'' and has 
a Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) registry number of 6422-86-2. 
Regardless of the label, all DOTP is covered by this investigation.
    Subject merchandise is currently classified under subheading 
2917.39.2000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS). Subject merchandise may also enter under subheadings 
2917.39.7000 or 3812.20.1000 of the HTSUS. While the CAS registry 
number and HTSUS classification are provided for convenience and 
customs purposes, the written description of the scope of this 
investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Investigation
IV. Final Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances
V. Margin Calculations
VI. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: Whether the Department's Quarterly Cost Methodology 
Justifies Comparing Sales on a Quarterly Basis
    Comment 2: Whether AKP's Reporting Supports the Department's 
Decision To Rely on Quarterly Costs for the Final Determination
    Comment 3: Whether To Adjust the Reported Cost of Purchases of 
Raw Material 2-Ethyl Hexanol (2-EH)
    Comment 4: The Structure of AKP's Paper Transactions and the 
Basis for U.S. Price for AKP's Channel 3 and 4 Sales
    Comment 5: AKP's Affiliate's Financial Statements and Indirect 
Selling Expenses Calculation
    Comment 6: Duty Drawback for AKP's U.S. Sales
    Comment 7: LG Chem's Duty Drawback Adjustment
    Comment 8: LG Chem's Constructed Export Price (CEP) Offset
    Comment 9: Reported Currency for LG Chem's Bank Charges
    Comment 10: LG Chem's General and Administrative Expense (G&A) 
Ratio
    Comment 11: LG Chem's Raw Material and Variable Overhead Costs
VII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2017-13285 Filed 6-23-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P