[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 41 (Thursday, March 1, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8835-8837]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-04138]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-560-830]


Biodiesel From Indonesia: Final Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that imports 
of biodiesel from Indonesia are being, or are likely to be, sold in the 
United States at less than fair value (LTFV), as provided in section 
735 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). The period of 
investigation (POI) is January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016. The 
final weighted-average dumping margins are listed below in the section 
entitled ``Final Determination Margins.''

DATES: Applicable March 1, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Myrna Lobo or Alex Cipolla, 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) 482-2371 or (202) 482-4956, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On October 31, 2017, Commerce published in the Federal Register the 
preliminary affirmative determination of sales at LTFV in the 
antidumping duty (AD) investigation of biodiesel from Indonesia.\1\ On 
December 8, 2017, Commerce published a postponement notice, extending 
the due date of the final LTFV determination until February 15, 
2018.\2\ Commerce invited comments from interested parties on the 
Preliminary Determination.\3\ The petitioner, Wilmar, and Musim Mas 
filed case and rebuttal briefs on both sales and cost issues.\4\ In 
addition, the Government of Indonesia filed a case brief. Commerce 
exercised its discretion to toll deadlines affected by the closure of 
the Federal Government from January 20 through 22, 2018. The revised 
deadline for the final determination of this investigation is now 
February 20, 2018.\5\ A summary of the events that occurred since 
Commerce published the Preliminary Determination, as well as a full 
discussion of the issues raised by interested parties for this final 
determination, may be found in the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\6\ 
The Issues and 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 http://access.trade.gov, and 
it is available to all parties in the Central Records Unit, Room B8024 
of the main Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and electronic versions of the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \1\ See Biodiesel from Indonesia: Preliminary Affirmative 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 82 FR 50379 (October 
31, 2017) (Preliminary Determination) and accompanying Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum (PDM).
    \2\ See Biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia: Postponement of 
Final Determinations of Sales in Less Than Fair Value Investigations 
and Extension of Provisional Measures, 82 FR 57952 (December 8, 
2017).
    \3\ See Memorandum ``Antidumping Duty Investigation of Biodiesel 
from Indonesia: Deadline for Case Briefs,'' dated November 22, 2017; 
see also Memorandum ``Antidumping Duty Investigation of Biodiesel 
from Indonesia: Deadline for Case Briefs,'' dated December 1, 2017.
    \4\ The petitioner is the National Biodiesel Board Fair Trade 
Coalition, which is an ad hoc association comprised of domestic 
producers of biodiesel, as well as one trade association. See, e.g., 
Biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia; Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Petitions, dated March 23, 2017. The mandatory 
respondents in this investigation are Wilmar Trading PTE Ltd. 
(Wilmar) and PT Musim Mas (Musim Mas).
    \5\ See Memorandum for The Record from Christian Marsh, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, performing the 
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, ``Deadlines Affected by the Shutdown of 
the Federal Government,'' dated January 23, 2018. All deadlines in 
this segment of the proceeding have been extended by 3 days. If the 
new deadline falls on a non-business day, in accordance with 
Commerce's practice, the deadline will become the next business day. 
See Notice of Clarification: Application of ``Next Business Day'' 
Rule for Administrative Determination Deadlines Pursuant to the 
Tariff Act of 1930, as Amended, 70 FR 24533 (May 10, 2005).
    \6\ See Memorandum to the File, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum 
for the Final Affirmative Determination in the Antidumping Duty 
Investigation of Biodiesel from Indonesia,'' dated concurrently 
with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and Decision 
Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is biodiesel from 
Indonesia. Commerce did not receive any scope comments subsequent to 
the Preliminary Determination and, therefore, the scope has not been 
updated since the Preliminary Determination. See the scope in Appendix 
I to this notice.

Period of Investigation

    The POI is January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, we conducted the cost and 
sales verifications of Wilmar in Medan, Indonesia, Singapore, and 
Pearland, Texas, in October and November, 2017. We used standard 
verification procedures, including an examination of relevant 
accounting and production records, and original source documents 
provided by the respondents.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties in 
this investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, 
which is hereby adopted by this notice. A list of the issues raised is 
attached to this notice as Appendix II.

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 a 
discussion of these changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

[[Page 8836]]

All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that the estimated ``all-
others'' rate for exporters and producers not individually investigated 
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. In this investigation, Commerce assigned a rate based 
entirely on facts available to Musim Mas. Therefore, the only rate that 
is not zero, de minimis or based entirely on facts otherwise available 
is the rate calculated for Wilmar. Consequently, the rate calculated 
for Wilmar is also assigned as the rate for all-other producers and 
exporters, as referenced in the ``Final Determination Margins'' section 
below.

Final Determination Margins

    The weighted-average dumping margins are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Estimated
                                                               weighted-
                                                                average
                    Exporter or producer                        dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wilmar Trading PTE Ltd......................................       92.52
PT Musim Mas................................................      276.65
All-Others..................................................       92.52
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure

    We will disclose the calculations performed within five days of any 
public announcement of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.224(b).

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, Commerce will 
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue to 
suspend liquidation of all appropriate entries of biodiesel from 
Indonesia, as described in Appendix I of this notice, which were 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
October 31, 2017, the date of publication of the Preliminary 
Determination.
    Furthermore, pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 
CFR 351.210(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit 
for such entries of merchandise equal to the estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin or the estimated all-others rate, as follows: (1) The 
cash deposit rate for the respondents listed above will be equal to the 
respondent-specific estimated weighted-average dumping margin 
determined in this final 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 respondent-specific estimated weighted-
average dumping margin 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.
    These instructions will stay in effect until further notice.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
U.S. 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)(B) 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 of biodiesel from 
Indonesia 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, 
Commerce will issue an AD order directing CBP to assess, upon further 
instruction by Commerce, 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, as discussed above in the ``Continuation of Suspension of 
Liquidation'' section.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders

    This notice will serve as the only reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the destruction of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely written 
notification of return/destruction or 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 sanctionable violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing and publishing this determination and notice in 
accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(c).

    Dated: February 20, 2018.
Prentiss Lee Smith,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations.

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 covers 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); 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 Issues and Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Investigation
IV. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
V. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: Whether a Circumstances of Sale Adjustment is 
Appropriate for the Renewable Identification Numbers Value
    Comment 2: Whether Commerce Erred in Disregarding Wilmar's 
Reported Home Market Sales Due to Particular Market Situation
    Comment 3: Whether the Particular Market Situation Permits 
Disregarding Raw Material Costs
    Comment 4: Whether the Particular Market Situation Adjustment 
for Crude Palm Oil Results in the Imposition of Double Remedies
    Comment 5: Whether Commerce Erred in Its Selection of CV Profit 
Sources
    Comment 6: Whether Commerce Should Correct Errors in Its CV 
Profit Calculation

[[Page 8837]]

    Comment 7: Whether to Continue to Include Allocated RIN and BTC 
Values for Wilmar's U.S. Sales of Biodiesel Made Without RINs and 
BTCs
    Comment 8: Whether Commerce Should Correct Its Constructed Value 
Calculation Based on Its Cost Verification Finding
    Comment 9: Whether Commerce's Application of AFA to Musim Mas 
was Justified and Sufficiently Adverse
VI. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2018-04138 Filed 2-28-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P