[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 22 (Thursday, February 1, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4676-4679]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-01348]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Investigation No. 731-TA-747 (Fourth Review)]


Fresh Tomatoes From Mexico; Institution of a Five-Year Review

AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Commission hereby gives notice that it has instituted a 
review pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930 (``the Act''), as amended, to 
determine whether termination of the suspended investigation on fresh 
tomatoes from Mexico would be likely to lead to continuation or 
recurrence of material injury. Pursuant to the Act, interested parties 
are requested to respond to this notice by submitting the information 
specified below to the Commission.

DATES: Instituted February 1, 2018. To be assured of consideration, the 
deadline for responses is March 5, 2018. Comments on the adequacy of 
responses may be filed with the Commission by April 16, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Messer (202-205-3193), Office of 
Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, 
Washington, DC 20436. Hearing-impaired persons can obtain information 
on this matter by contacting the Commission's TDD terminal on 202-205-
1810. Persons with mobility impairments who will need special 
assistance in gaining access to the Commission should contact the 
Office of the Secretary at 202-205-2000. General information concerning 
the Commission may also be obtained by accessing its internet server 
https://www.usitc.gov. The public record for this proceeding may be 
viewed on the Commission's electronic docket (EDIS) at https://edis.usitc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background.--On November 1, 1996, the Department of Commerce 
(``Commerce'') suspended an antidumping duty investigation on imports 
of fresh tomatoes from Mexico (61 FR 56618). On October 1, 2001, 
Commerce initiated its first five-year review of the suspended 
investigation (66 FR 49926). On the basis of the withdrawal from the 
suspension agreement by Mexican tomato growers which accounted for a 
significant percentage of all fresh tomatoes imported into the United 
States from Mexico, Commerce terminated the suspension agreement, 
terminated the first five-year review, and resumed the antidumping 
investigation, effective July 30, 2002 (67 FR 50858, August 6, 2002). 
On December 16, 2002, Commerce suspended the antidumping duty 
investigation on imports of fresh tomatoes from Mexico (67 FR 77044). 
On November 1, 2007, Commerce initiated its second five-year review of 
the suspended investigation (72 FR 61861). Once again, based on the 
withdrawal from the suspension agreement by Mexican tomato growers 
which accounted for a significant percentage of all fresh tomatoes 
imported into the United States from Mexico, Commerce terminated the 
suspension agreement, terminated the second five-year review, and 
resumed the antidumping investigation, effective January 18, 2008 (73 
FR 2887, January 16, 2008). The antidumping investigation was again 
suspended effective January 22, 2008 (73 FR 4831, January 8, 2008). On 
December 3, 2012, Commerce initiated its third five-year review of the 
suspended investigation (77 FR 71684). On February 28, 2013, Mexican 
tomato growers/exporters accounting for a significant percentage of all 
fresh tomatoes imported into the United States from Mexico provided 
written notice to Commerce of their withdrawal from the suspension 
agreement on fresh tomatoes from Mexico. Because the suspension 
agreement no longer covered substantially all imports of fresh tomatoes 
from Mexico, Commerce terminated the suspension agreement, terminated 
the third five-year review of the suspended investigation, and resumed 
the antidumping investigation, effective March 1, 2013 (78 FR 14771, 
March 7, 2013). On March 4, 2013, Commerce signed a new agreement with 
certain growers/exporters of fresh tomatoes from Mexico, and again 
suspended its investigation on these imports effective March 4, 2013 
(78 FR 14967, March 8, 2013). The Commission is now instituting a 
fourth review pursuant to section 751(c) of the Act, as amended (19 
U.S.C. 1675(c)), to determine whether termination of the suspended 
investigation would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of 
material injury to the domestic industry within a reasonably 
foreseeable time. Provisions concerning the conduct of this proceeding 
may be found in the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure at 19 
CFR parts 201, subparts A and B and 19 CFR part 207, subparts A and F. 
The Commission will assess the adequacy of interested party responses 
to this notice of institution to determine whether to conduct a full 
review or an expedited review. The Commission's determination in any 
expedited review will be based on the facts available, which may 
include information provided in response to this notice.
    Definitions.--The following definitions apply to this review:
    (1) Subject Merchandise is the class or kind of merchandise that is 
within the scope of the five-year review, as defined by Commerce.
    (2) The Subject Country in this review is Mexico.
    (3) The Domestic Like Product is the domestically produced product 
or products which are like, or in the absence of like, most similar in 
characteristics and uses with, the Subject Merchandise. For the purpose 
of the original preliminary investigation, the Commission defined the 
Domestic Like Product as all fresh market tomatoes. Fresh market 
tomatoes do not include processing tomatoes.
    (4) The Domestic Industry is the U.S. producers as a whole of the 
Domestic Like Product, or those producers whose collective output of 
the Domestic Like Product constitutes a major proportion of the total 
domestic production of the product. For the purpose of the original

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preliminary investigation, the Commission defined the Domestic Industry 
as growers and packers of fresh tomatoes.
    (5) An Importer is any person or firm engaged, either directly or 
through a parent company or subsidiary, in importing the Subject 
Merchandise into the United States from a foreign manufacturer or 
through its selling agent.
    Participation in the proceeding and public service list.--Persons, 
including industrial users of the Subject Merchandise and, if the 
merchandise is sold at the retail level, representative consumer 
organizations, wishing to participate in the proceeding as parties must 
file an entry of appearance with the Secretary to the Commission, as 
provided in section 201.11(b)(4) of the Commission's rules, no later 
than 21 days after publication of this notice in the Federal Register. 
The Secretary will maintain a public service list containing the names 
and addresses of all persons, or their representatives, who are parties 
to the proceeding.
    Former Commission employees who are seeking to appear in Commission 
five-year reviews are advised that they may appear in a review even if 
they participated personally and substantially in the corresponding 
underlying original investigation or an earlier review of the same 
underlying investigation. The Commission's designated agency ethics 
official has advised that a five-year review is not the same particular 
matter as the underlying original investigation, and a five-year review 
is not the same particular matter as an earlier review of the same 
underlying investigation for purposes of 18 U.S.C. 207, the post 
employment statute for Federal employees, and Commission rule 201.15(b) 
(19 CFR 201.15(b)), 79 FR 3246 (Jan. 17, 2014), 73 FR 24609 (May 5, 
2008). Consequently, former employees are not required to seek 
Commission approval to appear in a review under Commission rule 19 CFR 
201.15, even if the corresponding underlying original investigation or 
an earlier review of the same underlying investigation was pending when 
they were Commission employees. For further ethics advice on this 
matter, contact Charles Smith, Deputy Agency Ethics Official, at 202-
205-3408.
    Limited disclosure of business proprietary information (BPI) under 
an administrative protective order (APO) and APO service list.--
Pursuant to section 207.7(a) of the Commission's rules, the Secretary 
will make BPI submitted in this proceeding available to authorized 
applicants under the APO issued in the proceeding, provided that the 
application is made no later than 21 days after publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register. Authorized applicants must represent 
interested parties, as defined in 19 U.S.C. 1677(9), who are parties to 
the proceeding. A separate service list will be maintained by the 
Secretary for those parties authorized to receive BPI under the APO.
    Certification.--Pursuant to section 207.3 of the Commission's 
rules, any person submitting information to the Commission in 
connection with this proceeding must certify that the information is 
accurate and complete to the best of the submitter's knowledge. In 
making the certification, the submitter will acknowledge that 
information submitted in response to this request for information and 
throughout this proceeding or other proceeding may be disclosed to and 
used: (i) by the Commission, its employees and Offices, and contract 
personnel (a) for developing or maintaining the records of this or a 
related proceeding, or (b) in internal investigations, audits, reviews, 
and evaluations relating to the programs, personnel, and operations of 
the Commission including under 5 U.S.C. Appendix 3; or (ii) by U.S. 
government employees and contract personnel, solely for cybersecurity 
purposes. All contract personnel will sign appropriate nondisclosure 
agreements.
    Written submissions.--Pursuant to section 207.61 of the 
Commission's rules, each interested party response to this notice must 
provide the information specified below. The deadline for filing such 
responses is March 5, 2018. Pursuant to section 207.62(b) of the 
Commission's rules, eligible parties (as specified in Commission rule 
207.62(b)(1)) may also file comments concerning the adequacy of 
responses to the notice of institution and whether the Commission 
should conduct an expedited or full review. The deadline for filing 
such comments is April 16, 2018. All written submissions must conform 
with the provisions of section 201.8 of the Commission's rules; any 
submissions that contain BPI must also conform with the requirements of 
sections 201.6, 207.3, and 207.7 of the Commission's rules. The 
Commission's Handbook on E-Filing, available on the Commission's 
website at https://edis.usitc.gov, elaborates upon the Commission's 
rules with respect to electronic filing. Also, in accordance with 
sections 201.16(c) and 207.3 of the Commission's rules, each document 
filed by a party to the proceeding must be served on all other parties 
to the proceeding (as identified by either the public or APO service 
list as appropriate), and a certificate of service must accompany the 
document (if you are not a party to the proceeding you do not need to 
serve your response).
    No response to this request for information is required if a 
currently valid Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') number is not 
displayed; the OMB number is 3117 0016/USITC No. 18-5-405, expiration 
date June 30, 2020. Public reporting burden for the request is 
estimated to average 15 hours per response. Please send comments 
regarding the accuracy of this burden estimate to the Office of 
Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, 
Washington, DC 20436.
    Inability to provide requested information.--Pursuant to section 
207.61(c) of the Commission's rules, any interested party that cannot 
furnish the information requested by this notice in the requested form 
and manner shall notify the Commission at the earliest possible time, 
provide a full explanation of why it cannot provide the requested 
information, and indicate alternative forms in which it can provide 
equivalent information. If an interested party does not provide this 
notification (or the Commission finds the explanation provided in the 
notification inadequate) and fails to provide a complete response to 
this notice, the Commission may take an adverse inference against the 
party pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1677e(b)) in 
making its determination in the review.
    Information to Be Provided in Response to This Notice of 
Institution: As used below, the term ``firm'' includes any related 
firms.
    (1) The name and address of your firm or entity (including World 
Wide Web address) and name, telephone number, fax number, and Email 
address of the certifying official.
    (2) A statement indicating whether your firm/entity is an 
interested party under 19 U.S.C. 1677(9) and if so, how, including 
whether your firm/entity is a U.S. grower or packer of the Domestic 
Like Product, a U.S. union or worker group, a U.S. importer of the 
Subject Merchandise, a foreign producer or exporter of the Subject 
Merchandise, a U.S. or foreign trade or business association (a 
majority of whose members are interested parties under the statute), or 
another interested party (including an explanation). If you are a 
union/worker group or trade/business association, identify the firms in 
which your workers are employed or which are members of your 
association.

[[Page 4678]]

    (3) A statement indicating whether your firm/entity is willing to 
participate in this proceeding by providing information requested by 
the Commission.
    (4) A statement of the likely effects of the termination of the 
suspended investigation on the Domestic Industry in general and/or your 
firm/entity specifically. In your response, please discuss the various 
factors specified in section 752(a) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675a(a)) 
including the likely volume of subject imports, likely price effects of 
subject imports, and likely impact of imports of Subject Merchandise on 
the Domestic Industry.
    (5) A list of all known and currently operating U.S. growers and 
packers of the Domestic Like Product. Identify any known related 
parties and the nature of the relationship as defined in section 
771(4)(B) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1677(4)(B)).
    (6) A list of all known and currently operating U.S. importers of 
the Subject Merchandise and producers of the Subject Merchandise in the 
Subject Country that currently export or have exported Subject 
Merchandise to the United States or other countries after 2011.
    (7) A list of 3-5 leading purchasers in the U.S. market for the 
Domestic Like Product and the Subject Merchandise (including street 
address, World Wide Web address, and the name, telephone number, fax 
number, and Email address of a responsible official at each firm).
    (8) A list of known sources of information on national or regional 
prices for the Domestic Like Product or the Subject Merchandise in the 
U.S. or other markets.
    (9) If you are a U.S. grower or packer of the Domestic Like 
Product, provide the following information on your firm's operations on 
that product during calendar year 2017, except as noted (report 
quantity data in pounds and value data in U.S. dollars, f.o.b. plant). 
If you are a union/worker group or trade/business association, provide 
the information, on an aggregate basis, for the firms in which your 
workers are employed/which are members of your association.
    (a) Production (quantity) and, if known, an estimate of the 
percentage of total U.S. production of the Domestic Like Product 
accounted for by your firm's(s') production;
    (b) Capacity (quantity) of your firm to produce the Domestic Like 
Product (that is, the level of production that your establishment(s) 
could reasonably have expected to attain during the year, assuming 
normal operating conditions (using equipment and machinery in place and 
ready to operate), normal operating levels (hours per week/weeks per 
year), time for downtime, maintenance, repair, and cleanup, and a 
typical or representative product mix);
    (c) the quantity and value of U.S. commercial shipments of the 
Domestic Like Product grown and/or packed in your U.S. facility(ies);
    (d) the quantity and value of U.S. internal consumption/company 
transfers of the Domestic Like Product grown and/or packed in your U.S. 
facility(ies); and
    (e) the value of (i) net sales, (ii) cost of goods sold (COGS), 
(iii) gross profit, (iv) selling, general and administrative (SG&A) 
expenses, and (v) operating income of the Domestic Like Product grown 
and/or packed in your U.S. facility(ies) (include both U.S. and export 
commercial sales, internal consumption, and company transfers) for your 
most recently completed fiscal year (identify the date on which your 
fiscal year ends).
    (10) If you are a U.S. importer or a trade/business association of 
U.S. importers of the Subject Merchandise from the Subject Country, 
provide the following information on your firm's(s') operations on that 
product during calendar year 2017 (report quantity data in pounds and 
value data in U.S. dollars). If you are a trade/business association, 
provide the information, on an aggregate basis, for the firms which are 
members of your association.
    (a) The quantity and value (landed, duty-paid but not including 
antidumping duties) of U.S. imports and, if known, an estimate of the 
percentage of total U.S. imports of Subject Merchandise from the 
Subject Country accounted for by your firm's(s') imports;
    (b) the quantity and value (f.o.b. U.S. port, including antidumping 
duties) of U.S. commercial shipments of Subject Merchandise imported 
from the Subject Country; and
    (c) the quantity and value (f.o.b. U.S. port, including antidumping 
duties) of U.S. internal consumption/company transfers of Subject 
Merchandise imported from the Subject Country.
    (11) If you are a producer, an exporter, or a trade/business 
association of producers or exporters of the Subject Merchandise in the 
Subject Country, provide the following information on your firm's(s') 
operations on that product during calendar year 2017 (report quantity 
data in pounds and value data in U.S. dollars, landed and duty-paid at 
the U.S. port but not including antidumping duties). If you are a 
trade/business association, provide the information, on an aggregate 
basis, for the firms which are members of your association.
    (a) Production (quantity) and, if known, an estimate of the 
percentage of total production of Subject Merchandise in the Subject 
Country accounted for by your firm's(s') production;
    (b) Capacity (quantity) of your firm(s) to produce the Subject 
Merchandise in the Subject Country (that is, the level of production 
that your establishment(s) could reasonably have expected to attain 
during the year, assuming normal operating conditions (using equipment 
and machinery in place and ready to operate), normal operating levels 
(hours per week/weeks per year), time for downtime, maintenance, 
repair, and cleanup, and a typical or representative product mix); and
    (c) the quantity and value of your firm's(s') exports to the United 
States of Subject Merchandise and, if known, an estimate of the 
percentage of total exports to the United States of Subject Merchandise 
from the Subject Country accounted for by your firm's(s') exports.
    (12) Identify significant changes, if any, in the supply and demand 
conditions or business cycle for the Domestic Like Product that have 
occurred in the United States or in the market for the Subject 
Merchandise in the Subject Country after 2011, and significant changes, 
if any, that are likely to occur within a reasonably foreseeable time. 
Supply conditions to consider include technology; production methods; 
development efforts; ability to increase production (including the 
shift of production facilities used for other products and the use, 
cost, or availability of major inputs into production); and factors 
related to the ability to shift supply among different national markets 
(including barriers to importation in foreign markets or changes in 
market demand abroad). Demand conditions to consider include end uses 
and applications; the existence and availability of substitute 
products; and the level of competition among the Domestic Like Product 
produced in the United States, Subject Merchandise produced in the 
Subject Country, and such merchandise from other countries.
    (13) (OPTIONAL) A statement of whether you agree with the above 
definitions of the Domestic Like Product and Domestic Industry; if you 
disagree with either or both of these definitions, please explain why 
and provide alternative definitions.

    Authority: This proceeding is being conducted under authority of 
title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930; this notice is published 
pursuant to section 207.61 of the Commission's rules.


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    By order of the Commission.

    Issued: January 19, 2018.
Lisa R. Barton,
Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2018-01348 Filed 1-31-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7020-02-P