[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 209 (Tuesday, October 31, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50391-50394]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-23601]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-357-820]


Biodiesel From Argentina: Preliminary Affirmative Determination 
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Preliminary Affirmative Determination 
of Critical Circumstances, in Part

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) preliminarily 
determines that biodiesel from Argentina is being, or is likely to be, 
sold in the United States at less than fair value. The period of 
investigation is January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016.

DATES: Effective October 31, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Lindgren, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3870.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 
733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The Department 
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on April 19, 
2017.\1\ For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\2\ A list of topics included in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is included as Appendix II to this notice. 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, Room B8024 of the Department's main building. In 
addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can 
be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed 
and the electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum are 
identical in content.
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    \1\ See Biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia: Initiation of 
Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 82 FR 18428 (April 19, 2017) 
(Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Memorandum to Gary Tavernman, Deputy Assistant Secretary 
for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations performing the 
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, from James Maeder, Senior Director for 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations performing the duties 
of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing 
Duty Operations, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of Biodiesel 
from Argentina,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, 
this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

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

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the preamble to the Department's regulations,\3\ 
the Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise 
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope).\4\ No interested party 
commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in the 
Initiation Notice. Therefore, the Department is not preliminarily 
modifying the scope language as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. 
See the scope in Appendix I to this notice.
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    \3\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \4\ See Initiation Notice.
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Methodology

    The Department is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. The Department has calculated export prices in 
accordance with section 772(a) of the Act. Constructed export prices 
have been calculated in accordance with section 772(b) of the Act. 
Normal value (NV) is calculated in accordance with section 773 of the 
Act. For a full description of the methodology underlying the 
preliminary determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in 
Part

    In accordance with section 733(e) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206, 
the Department preliminarily finds that critical circumstances exist 
for LDC Argentina S.A. (LDC) and ``all other'' producers or exporters 
not individually examined. We preliminarily find that critical 
circumstances do not exist for Vicentin S.A.I.C. (Vicentin) and certain 
affiliated companies (collectively, the Vicentin Group).\5\ For a full 
description

[[Page 50392]]

of the methodology and results of the Department's critical 
circumstances analysis, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \5\ Vicentin Group consists of the following companies: 
Vicentin, Renova S.A., Oleaginosa Moreno Hermanos S.A., Molinos Agro 
S.A., Patagonia Energia S.A., VFG Inversiones y Actividades 
Especiales S.A., Vicentin S.A.I.C. Sucursal Uy, Trading Company X, 
and Molinos Overseas Commodities S.A. See Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum at ``Affiliation and Collapsing.''
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Particular Market Situation

    On August 2, 2017, the National Biodiesel Board Fair Trade 
Coalition (petitioner) filed a particular market situation (PMS) 
allegation with respect to the respondents' home market sales prices 
and reported costs of production.\6\ The petitioner asserts that a PMS 
exists in Argentina because the Government of Argentina (GOA) sets both 
mandatory monthly sales prices and sales quotas for biodiesel 
producers, and restrains the exports of soybeans with an export tax, 
thereby depressing the respondents' reported raw material costs in 
Argentina. The petitioner argues that the Department should disregard 
the respondents' home market sales based on a finding that they are 
significantly distorted by government intervention. The petitioner also 
urges the Department to make an adjustment for the price of soybeans 
purchased from domestic suppliers to address the distorted Argentine 
market for soybeans.
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    \6\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Biodiesel from Argentina: 
Petitioner's Particular Market Situation Allegation Regarding 
Respondents' Home Market Sales and Costs of Production,'' dated 
August 2, 2017 (PMS Allegation).
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    The respondent Vicentin argues that the Department has a preference 
for using home market prices and that the standard for finding a PMS 
and rejecting home market prices is that the government control must be 
so extensive that pricing is not longer profitable.\7\ Vicentin 
contends the GOA's prices allow for a return on capital. Furthermore, 
Vicentin asserts that the claim that the export tax on soybeans is 
distortive is speculative and it cites studies finding that the 
elimination of the export tax would have a negligible effect on 
domestic soybean prices. Finally, Vicentin contends that the Department 
has previously made clear that a single subsidized raw material is 
insufficient to conclude that a PMS exists.
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    \7\ See Vicentin's Affirmative Pre-Preliminary Comments at 5.
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    Based on the facts on the record, the Department preliminarily 
finds that the GOA's regulation of the domestic biodiesel market 
amounts to a PMS in Argentina that renders the home market prices of 
the Vicentin Group and LDC outside the ordinary course of trade. 
Therefore, the Department is preliminarily relying on constructed value 
as the basis for NV in this investigation for both respondents. The 
Department also preliminarily finds that a PMS exists in Argentina with 
regard to the price of soybeans as a component of the cost of 
manufacturing (COM) for biodiesel. Therefore, the Department has 
adjusted the Vicentin Group's and LDC's COM to account for the 
distorted cost of soybeans. For a full description of the methodology 
underlying the PMS determination, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Sections 733(d)(1)(ii) and 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that, in 
the preliminary determination, the Department shall determine an 
estimated all-others rate for all exporters and producers not 
individually examined. This rate shall be an amount equal to the 
weighted average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins 
established for exporters and producers individually investigated, 
excluding rates that are zero, de minimis, or determined entirely on 
facts available under section 776 of the Act.
    In this investigation, the Department calculated estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins for LDC and the Vicentin Group that 
are not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts otherwise 
available. The Department calculated the all-others rate using a 
weighted average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins 
calculated for the examined respondents using each company's publicly-
ranged values for the merchandise under consideration.\8\
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    \8\ With two respondents under examination, the Department 
normally calculates (A) a weighted-average of the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins calculated for the examined 
respondents; (B) a simple average of the estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins calculated for the examined respondents; and (C) a 
weighted-average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins 
calculated for the examined respondents using each company's 
publicly-ranged U.S. sale quantities for the merchandise under 
consideration. The Department then compares (B) and (C) to (A) and 
selects the rate closest to (A) as the most appropriate rate for all 
other producers and exporters. See Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof 
from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom: Final 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews, Final Results of 
Changed-Circumstances Review, and Revocation of an Order in Part, 75 
FR 53661, 53663 (September 1, 2010). As complete publicly ranged 
sales data was available, the Department based the all-others rate 
on the publicly ranged sales data of the mandatory respondents. For 
a complete analysis of the data, please see Memorandum to the File 
``Antidumping Duty Investigation of Biodiesel from Argentina: 
Preliminary Determsnation Calculation for the `All-Others' Rate,'' 
October 19, 2017 (Preliminary All-Others Rate Memorandum).
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Preliminary Determination

    The Department preliminarily determines that the following 
estimated weighted-average dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                      Cash deposit rate
                                 Estimated weighted-    (adjusted for
      Exporter or producer         average dumping    subsidy offset(s))
                                  margin (percent)        (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LDC Argentina S.A..............               54.36                54.36
Vicentin S.A.I.C.\9\...........               70.05           \10\ 69.91
All-Others.....................               63.00           \11\ 62.92
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Suspension of Liquidation
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    \9\ The Department preliminarily determined that Vicentin 
S.A.I.C., and companies Renova S.A., Oleaginosa Moreno Hermanos 
S.A., Molinos Agro S.A., Patagonia Energia S.A., VFG Inversiones y 
Actividades Especiales S.A., Vicentin S.A.I.C. Sucursal Uy, Trading 
Company X, and Molinos Overseas Commodities S.A. are a single 
entity. See Preliminary Decision Memorandum at ``Affiliation and 
Collapsing.''
    \10\ See Vicentin Preliminary Analysis Memorandum.
    \11\ See Preliminary All-Others Rate Memorandum.
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    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, the Department 
will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend 
liquidation of entries of subject merchandise, as described in Appendix 
I, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register. 
Furthermore, pursuant to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.205(d), the Department will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit 
equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping margin, adjusted for 
export subsidy offset(s), as follows: (1) The cash deposit rate for the 
respondents listed above will be equal

[[Page 50393]]

to the company-specific estimated weighted-average dumping margins, 
adjusted for export subsidy offset(s), determined in this preliminary 
determination; (2) if the exporter is not a respondent identified 
above, but the producer is, then the cash deposit rate will be equal to 
the company-specific estimated weighted-average dumping margin, 
adjusted for export subsidy offset(s), established for that producer of 
the subject merchandise; and (3) the cash deposit rate for all other 
producers and exporters will be equal to the all-others estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin, adjusted for export subsidy offset(s).
    The Department normally adjusts cash deposits for estimated 
antidumping duties by the amount of export subsidies countervailed in a 
companion CVD proceeding in accordance with section 772(c)(1)(C), when 
CVD provisional measures are in effect. Accordingly, where the 
Department preliminarily made an affirmative determination for 
countervailable export subsidies, the Department has offset the 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin by the appropriate CVD rate. 
In the preliminary determination in the companion CVD investigation, 
the Department found that Vicentin had a countervailable export subsidy 
while LDC did not.\12\ Therefore, we preliminarily determine to adjust 
the cash deposit rate for the Vicentin Group and make no adjustments to 
the cash deposit rate for LDC in the Preliminary Determination.
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    \12\ See Biodiesel from Argentina: Preliminary Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination and Preliminary Affirmative 
Critical Circumstances Determination, in Part, 82 FR 40748 (August 
28, 2017), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    Section 733(e)(2) of the Act provides that, given an affirmative 
determination of critical circumstances, any suspension of liquidation 
shall apply to unliquidated entries of subject merchandise entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the later of (a) 
the date which is 90 days before the date on which the suspension of 
liquidation was first ordered, or (b) the date on which notice of 
initiation of the investigation was published. The Department 
preliminarily finds that critical circumstances exist for imports of 
subject merchandise produced or exported by LDC and ``all other'' 
exporters and producers not individually examined. In accordance with 
section 733(e)(2)(A) of the Act, the suspension of liquidation shall 
apply to unliquidated entries of shipments of subject merchandise from 
the producer(s) or exporter(s) identified in this paragraph that were 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the 
date which is 90 days before the publication of this notice.
    These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect 
until further notice.

Disclosure

    The Department intends to disclose its calculations and analysis 
performed to interested parties in this preliminary determination 
within five days of any public announcement or, if there is no public 
announcement, within five days of the date of publication of this 
notice in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, the Department intends 
to verify the information relied upon in making its final 
determination.

Public Comment

    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than seven 
days after the date on which the last verification report is issued in 
this investigation, unless the Secretary alters the time limit. 
Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs, may be 
submitted no later than five days after the deadline date for case 
briefs.\13\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), parties who 
submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this investigation 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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    \13\ 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, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal 
briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, within 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain 
the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of 
participants, whether any participant is a foreign national, and a list 
of the issues to be discussed. 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 date to be determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the 
date, time, and location of the hearing two days before the scheduled 
date.

Final Determination

    Section 735(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(1) provide that 
the Department will issue the final determination within 75 days after 
the date of its preliminary determination. Accordingly, the Department 
will make its final determination no later than 75 days after the 
signature date of this preliminary determination.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, the Department will 
notify the International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary 
determination. If the 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 the final determination 
whether these imports are materially injuring, or threaten material 
injury to, the U.S. industry.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: October 19, 2017.
Gary Taverman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is biodiesel, which is 
a fuel comprised of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids 
derived from vegetable oils or animal fats, including biologically-
based waste oils or greases, and other biologically-based oil or fat 
sources. The investigation cover biodiesel in pure form (B100) as 
well as fuel mixtures containing at least 99 percent biodiesel by 
volume (B99). For fuel mixtures containing less than 99 percent 
biodiesel by volume, only the biodiesel component of the mixture is 
covered by the scope of the investigation.
    Biodiesel is generally produced to American Society for Testing 
and Materials International (ASTM) D6751 specifications, but it can 
also be made to other specifications. Biodiesel commonly has one of 
the following Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) numbers, generally 
depending upon the feedstock used: 67784-80-9 (soybean oil methyl 
esters); 91051-34-2 (palm oil methyl esters); 91051-32-0 (palm 
kernel oil methyl esters); 73891-99-3 (rapeseed oil methyl esters); 
61788-61-2 (tallow methyl esters); 68990-52-3 (vegetable oil methyl 
esters); 129828-16-6 (canola oil methyl esters);

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67762-26-9 (unsaturated alkylcarboxylic acid methyl ester); or 
68937-84-8 (fatty acids, C12-C18, methyl ester).
    The B100 product subject to the investigation is currently 
classifiable under subheading 3826.00.1000 of the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), while the B99 product is 
currently classifiable under HTSUS subheading 3826.00.3000. Although 
the HTSUS subheadings, ASTM specifications, and CAS numbers are 
provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written 
description of the scope is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Preliminary Affirmative Critical Circumstances, In Part
    A. Legal Framework
    B. Critical Circumstances Allegation
    C. Analysis
V. Affiliation and Collapsing
    A. Vicentin Group
VI. Discussion of the Methodology
    A. Comparisions to Fair Value
VII. Product Comparisons
VIII. Date of Sale
IX. Export Price and Constructed Export Price
X. Normal Value
    A. Market Viability
XI. Particular Market Situation
    A. Background
    B. Interest Parties' Arguments
    C. Analysis
XII. Calculation of Normal Value Based on Constructed Value
XIII. Circumstance of Sale Adjustment
XIV. Adjustment to Cash Deposit Rate for Export Subsidies
XV. Currency Conversion
XVI. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2017-23601 Filed 10-30-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P