[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 43 (Monday, March 5, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9282-9284]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-04401]



[[Page 9282]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-053]


Certain Aluminum Foil From the People's Republic of China: 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 certain aluminum foil from the People's Republic of China (China) 
were being sold in the United States at less-than-fair value during the 
period of investigation (POI), July 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016.

DATES: Applicable March 5, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Bellhouse or Michael J. Heaney, 
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) 482-2057 or (202) 
482-4475, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On November 2, 2017, Commerce published the preliminary 
determination of this investigation in the Federal Register.\1\ We 
invited parties to comment on the Preliminary Determination. On January 
31, 2018, we received case briefs from the following parties: The 
Aluminum Association Trade Enforcement Working Group and its individual 
members \2\ (the petitioners); Hangzhou Dingsheng Import & Export Co. 
Ltd., Jiangsu Dingsheng New Materials Joint-Stock Co., Ltd., Jiangsu 
Zhongji Lamination Materials Co., (HK) Ltd., Inner Mongolia Liansheng 
New Energy Material Joint-Stock Co., Ltd., Hangzhou Teemful Aluminium 
Co., Ltd., Hangzhou Five Star Aluminium Co., Ltd., and Walson (HK) 
Trading Co., Limited (collectively, Dingsheng); and Jiangsu Zhongji 
Lamination Materials Co., (HK) Ltd., Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination 
Materials Stock Co., Ltd., and Jiangsu Huafeng Aluminium Industry Co., 
Ltd. (collectively, Zhongji).\3\
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    \1\ See Antidumping Duty Investigation of Certain Aluminum Foil 
from the People's Republic of China: Affirmative Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less-Than-Fair Value and Postponement of 
Final Determination, 82 FR 50858 (November 2, 2017) (Preliminary 
Determination), and the accompanying Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
    \2\ The individual members of The Aluminum Association Trade 
Enforcement Working-Group are JW Aluminum Company, Novelis 
Corporation, and Reynolds Consumer Products LLC.
    \3\ See Case Briefs submitted by the petitioners, Dingsheng, and 
Zhongji, dated January 31, 2018. Zhongji has indicated that 
subsequent to the period of investigation (POI), the name of the 
producer of subject merchandise was changed from ``Jiangsu Zhongji 
Lamination Materials Stock Co., Ltd.'' to ``Jiangsu Zhongji 
Lamination Materials Co., Ltd.'' As explained in the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum, we find in this instance that it is appropriate 
to recognize both names for the purposes of this final determination 
and related cash deposit instructions.
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    On February 6, 2018, we received rebuttal briefs from the 
petitioners, Dingsheng, and Zhongji.\4\ Commerce held a hearing on 
February 9, 2018, at the request of Dingsheng and Zhongji.\5\ Based on 
the events following the Preliminary Determination and an analysis of 
the comments received, Commerce has made changes to the Preliminary 
Determination.
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    \4\ See Rebuttal Briefs submitted by the petitioners, Dingsheng, 
and Zhongji, dated February 6, 2017.
    \5\ See Letters from Dingsheng and Zhongji requesting hearings, 
dated December 4, 2017.
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Scope Comments

    We invited parties to comment on Commerce's Preliminary Scope 
Memorandum.\6\ Commerce has reviewed the briefs submitted by interested 
parties, considered the arguments therein, and has made changes to the 
scope of the investigation. For further discussion, see Commerce's 
Final Scope Decision Memorandum.\7\
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    \6\ See Memorandum, ``Certain Aluminum Foil from the People's 
Republic of China: Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the 
Preliminary Determinations,'' dated October 26, 2017, and filed to 
ACCESS on October 30, 2017.
    \7\ See Memorandum, ``Certain Aluminum Foil from the People's 
Republic of China: Final Scope Decision Memorandum,'' dated 
concurrently with this memorandum.
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Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is aluminum foil from 
China. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, 
see Appendix II.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), in December 2017, we conducted verification of the sales and 
factors of production information submitted by Dingsheng and Zhongji. 
We issued verification reports on January 24, 2018.\8\ We used standard 
verification procedures, including an examination of relevant 
accounting and production records, and original source documents 
provided by Dingsheng and Zhongji.
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    \8\ See Memorandum, ``Verification of the Questionnaire 
Responses of Hangzhou Dingsheng Import & Export Co., Ltd., Jiangsu 
Dingsheng New Materials Joint Stock Co., Ltd, Dingsheng Aluminum 
Industries (Hong Kong) Trading Co., Limited, Walson (HK) Trading 
Co., Ltd, Hangzhou Teemful Aluminum Co., Ltd., Hangzhou Five Star 
Aluminum Co., Ltd and Inner Mongolia Liansheng New Energy Material 
Joint Stock Co., Ltd. in the Antidumping Investigation of Certain 
Aluminum Foil from China,'' dated January 24, 2018; see also 
Verification of the Questionnaire Responses of Zhongji in the 
Antidumping Investigation of Aluminum Foil from the People's 
Republic of China,'' dated January 24, 2018.
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Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs that were 
submitted by parties in this investigation are addressed in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum. A list of these issues is attached to this 
notice as Appendix I.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on Commerce's analysis of the comments received and findings 
at verification, we made certain changes to our dumping margin 
calculations. For a discussion of these changes, see the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.

Adverse Facts Available

    Sections 776(a)(1) and (2) of the Act provide that if certain 
necessary information is not on the record or an interested party has 
withheld information that was requested or provided information that 
cannot be verified, Commerce may apply ``facts otherwise available.'' 
Furthermore, if Commerce determines pursuant to section 776(b) that a 
respondent has not acted to the best of its ability in complying with a 
request for information, Commerce may apply an adverse inference in 
selecting the facts otherwise available. For this final determination, 
Commerce has determined that Dingsheng did not act to the best of its 
ability in providing Commerce with requested information that could be 
verified and that the application of partial adverse facts available is 
therefore warranted. For Commerce's analysis, see the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum at Comment 8.

Combination Rates

    In the Initiation Notice, Commerce stated that it would calculate 
combination rates for the respondents that are eligible for a separate 
rate in this investigation.\9\ Accordingly, we have assigned 
combination rates to Dingsheng and Zhongji, along with 24 other 
companies receiving a separate rate.\10\
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    \9\ See Certain Aluminum Foil from the People's Republic of 
China: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation, 82 FR 15691 
(March 30, 2017) (Initiation Notice).
    \10\ See Enforcement and Compliance Policy Bulletin No. 05.1 
``Separate-Rates Practice and Application of Combination Rates in 
Antidumping Investigations involving Non-Market Economy Countries,'' 
(April 5, 2005) (Policy Bulletin 05.1), available on Commerce's 
website at http://enforcement.trade.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf.

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Final Determination

    Commerce determines, as provided in section 735 of the Act, that 
the following estimated weighted-average dumping margins exist for the 
period between July 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016:

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                                                                                                   Cash deposit
                                                                                     Weighted-     adjusted for
                   Producer                                 Exporter              average margin  subsidy offset
                                                                                     (percent)       (percent)
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Jiangsu Dingsheng New Materials Joint-Stock     Jiangsu Dingsheng New Materials           106.09           94.73
 Co., Ltd./Hangzhou Teemful Aluminum Co., Ltd./  Joint-Stock Co., Ltd./Hangzhou
 Hangzhou Five Star Aluminum Co., Ltd./          Teemful Aluminum Co., Ltd./
 Dingsheng Aluminum Industries (Hong Kong)       Hangzhou Five Star Aluminum
 Trading Co. Ltd./Walson (HK) Trading Co., Ltd.  Co., Ltd./Dingsheng Aluminum
                                                 Industries (Hong Kong) Trading
                                                 Co. Ltd./Walson (HK) Trading
                                                 Co., Ltd.
Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination Materials Stock      Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination                 48.64           37.99
 Co., Ltd/Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination Materials   Materials Co., (HK) Ltd.
 Co., Ltd/Jiangsu Huafeng Aluminium Industry
 Co., Ltd.
Jiangsu Alcha Aluminum Co., Ltd...............  Alcha International Holdings               84.94           73.84
                                                 Limited.
Baotou Alcha Aluminum Co., Ltd................  Alcha International Holdings               84.94           73.84
                                                 Limited.
Jiangyin Dolphin Pack Ltd. Co.................  Jiangyin Dolphin Pack Ltd. Co...           84.94           73.84
Granges Aluminum (Shanghai) Co., Ltd..........  Granges Aluminum (Shanghai) Co.,           84.94           73.84
                                                 Ltd.
Huafon Nikkei Aluminium Corporation...........  Huafon Nikkei Aluminium                    84.94           73.84
                                                 Corporation.
Suntown Technology Group Limited..............  Hunan Suntown Marketing Limited.           84.94           73.84
Luoyang Longding Aluminium Industries Co., Ltd  Luoyang Longding Aluminium                 84.94           73.84
                                                 Industries Co., Ltd.
Shandong Yuanrui Metal Material Co., Ltd......  Shandong Yuanrui Metal Material            84.94           73.84
                                                 Co., Ltd.
Suntown Technology Group Limited..............  SNTO International Trade Limited           84.94           73.84
North China Aluminum Co., Ltd., Hunan Suntown   Suzhou Manakin Aluminum                    84.94           73.84
 Marketing Limited, and Guangxi Baise Xinghe     Processing Technology Co., Ltd.
 Aluminum Industry Co., Ltd.
Xiamen Xiashun Aluminium Foil Co. Ltd.........  Xiamen Xiashun Aluminium Foil              84.94           73.84
                                                 Co. Ltd.
Yantai Donghai Aluminum Foil Co., Ltd.........  Yantai Jintai International                84.94           73.84
                                                 Trade Co., Ltd.
Yinbang Clad Material Co., Ltd................  Yinbang Clad Material Co., Ltd..           84.94           73.84
Zhejiang Zhongjin Aluminum Industry Co., Ltd..  Zhejiang Zhongjin Aluminum                 84.94           73.84
                                                 Industry Co., Ltd.
                                                                                 -------------------------------
    PRC-wide entity...........................  ................................          106.09           95.44
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Disclosure

    We will disclose to interested parties the calculations performed 
in this proceeding within five days of the date of announcement of this 
preliminary determination 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 subject merchandise, 
as described in the ``Scope of the Investigation'' section of this 
notice, from China that were entered or withdrawn from warehouse for 
consumption on or after November 2, 2017, the publication date of the 
Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register.
    Further, pursuant to section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act, Commerce 
will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit \11\[thinsp]equal to the 
amount by which the normal value exceeds U.S. price, adjusted where 
appropriate for export subsidies and estimated domestic subsidy pass-
through. For all combinations of Chinese exporters/producers of 
merchandise under consideration, the cash deposit rate will be equal to 
the dumping margin established for the China-wide entity.
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    \11\ See Modification of Regulations Regarding the Practice of 
Accepting Bonds During the Provisional Measures Period in 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations, 76 FR 61042 
(October 3, 2011).
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    Consistent with our practice, where the product under investigation 
is also subject to a concurrent countervailing duty investigation, we 
will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the amount by 
which the normal value exceeds the export price or constructed export 
price, adjusted where appropriate for export subsidies and estimated 
domestic subsidy pass-through.\12\ In the companion CVD proceeding, 
Commerce found an export subsidy of 11.36 percent ad valorem for 
Dingsheng and an export subsidy of 10.65 percent ad valorem for 
Zhongji.\13\ In this LTFV investigation, for the China-wide entity, 
which received an AFA rate, pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act, 
Commerce has adjusted the China-wide entity's AD cash deposit rate by 
the lowest export subsidy rate determined for any party in the 
companion CVD proceeding.\14\ Thus, we will offset the China-wide rate 
of 106.09 by the countervailing duty rate attributable to export 
subsidies of Zhongji (i.e., 10.65 percent) to calculate the cash 
deposit rate.\15\ These adjustments are reflected in the final column 
of the rate chart, above. Furthermore, we are not adjusting the final 
determination for estimated domestic subsidy pass-through because the 
respondents failed to substantiate a

[[Page 9284]]

cost-to-price-link.\16\ In the event that a countervailing duty order 
is issued and suspension of liquidation continues in the companion 
countervailing duty investigation on aluminum foil from China, Commerce 
will continue to instruct CBP to require cash deposits adjusted by the 
amount of export subsidies, as appropriate.
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    \12\ See sections 772(c)(1)(C) and 777A(f) of the Act, 
respectively. Unlike in administrative reviews, Commerce makes an 
adjustment for export subsidies in an LTFV investigation not in the 
calculation of the weighted-average dumping margin, but in the cash 
deposit instructions issued to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 
See Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
and Negative Determination of Critical Circumstances: Certain Lined 
Paper Products from India, 71 FR 45012 (August 8, 2006), and 
accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 1.
    \13\ See Countervailing Duty Investigation of Certain Aluminum 
Foil from the People's Republic of China: Final Affirmative 
Determination, and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum. The 
final determination in this companion CVD proceeding is being 
released concurrently with this final determination.
    \14\ Id.
    \15\ Id.
    \16\ See Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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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 less than fair value. Because the final 
determination in this proceeding is affirmative, the ITC will make its 
final determination, in accordance with section 735(b)(2) of the Act, 
as to whether the domestic industry in the United States is materially 
injured, or threatened with material injury, by reason of imports of 
certain aluminum foil from China no later than 45 days after our final 
determination. If the ITC determines that material injury or threat of 
material injury does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated and 
all securities posted will be refunded or canceled. If the ITC 
determines that such injury does exist, then Commerce will issue an 
antidumping duty 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.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders

    This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective orders (APOs) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely written 
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 
sanctionable violation.

Return or Destruction of Proprietary Information

    In the event the ITC issues a final negative injury determination, 
this notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to an 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 the return or destruction 
of APO materials, or conversion to judicial protective order, is hereby 
requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and terms of an APO 
is a violation subject to sanction.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination and notice are issued and published in 
accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(c).

    Dated: February 26, 2018.
Prentiss Lee Smith,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations.

Appendix I

Contents of the Accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Scope Comments
VI. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: Surrogate Country and Surrogate Values
    Comment 2: International Freight
    Comment 3: Marine Insurance
    Comment 4: Value Added Tax Calculation
    Comment 5: Deferral of Preliminary Determination and Deadline 
for Final Determination
    Comment 6: Ministerial Errors
    Comment 7: Affiliation and Collapsing Status of Liansheng and an 
Upstream Producer
    Comment 8: Application of Partial Adverse Facts Available (AFA)
    Comment 9: Double Remedy Adjustment
    Comment 10: Surrogate Value Adjustment for Steam
    Comment 11: Surrogate Value for Aluminum Scrap
VII. Recommendation

Appendix II

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is aluminum foil 
having a thickness of 0.2 mm or less, in reels exceeding 25 pounds, 
regardless of width. Aluminum foil is made from an aluminum alloy 
that contains more than 92 percent aluminum. Aluminum foil may be 
made to ASTM specification ASTM B479, but can also be made to other 
specifications. Regardless of specification, however, all aluminum 
foil meeting the scope description is included in the scope, 
including aluminum foil to which lubricant has been applied to one 
or both sides of the foil.
    Excluded from the scope of this investigation is aluminum foil 
that is backed with paper, paperboard, plastics, or similar backing 
materials on one side or both sides of the aluminum foil, as well as 
etched capacitor foil and aluminum foil that is cut to shape.
    Where the nominal and actual measurements vary, a product is 
within the scope if application of either the nominal or actual 
measurement would place it within the scope based on the definitions 
set forth above. The products under investigation are currently 
classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS) subheadings 7607.11.3000, 7607.11.6000, 7607.11.9030, 
7607.11.9060, 7607.11.9090, and 7607.19.6000. Further, merchandise 
that falls within the scope of this proceeding may also be entered 
into the United States under HTSUS subheadings 7606.11.3060, 
7606.11.6000, 7606.12.3045, 7606.12.3055, 7606.12.3090, 
7606.12.6000, 7606.91.3090, 7606.91.6080, 7606.92.3090, and 
7606.92.6080.
    Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and 
customs purposes, the written description of the scope of this 
proceeding is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2018-04401 Filed 3-2-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P