[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 53 (Monday, March 19, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11959-11960]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-05481]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-557-813]


Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags From Malaysia: Preliminary 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2016-2017

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that Euro SME Sdn Bhd (Euro SME), an exporter of polyethylene retail 
carrier bags (PRCBs) from Malaysia, did not have shipments of subject 
merchandise during the August 1, 2016, through July 31, 2017, period of 
review (POR).

DATES: Applicable March 19, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alex Rosen, 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) 482-7814.

Background

    On August 1, 2017, Commerce published a notice of opportunity to 
request an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on PRCBs 
from Malaysia for the POR.\1\ On October 16, 2017, in response to a 
timely request from the petitioners,\2\ and in accordance with section 
751(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 
351.213(b), Commerce initiated an administrative review of the 
antidumping duty order on PRCBs from Malaysia with respect to Euro 
SME.\3\ Commerce exercised its discretion to toll deadlines affected by 
the closure of the Federal Government from January 20 through 22, 2018. 
If the new deadline falls on a non-business day, in accordance with 
Commerce's practice, the deadline will become the next business day. 
The revised deadline for the preliminary results of this review is now 
May 7, 2018.\4\ We invite parties to comment on these preliminary 
results.
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    \1\ See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or 
Suspended Investigation; Opportunity to Request Administrative 
Review, 82 FR 35754 (August 1, 2017).
    \2\ See letter from Polyethylene Retail Bags Committee and its 
individual members Hilex Poly Co., LLC and Superbag Corp. (the 
petitioners), ``Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags from Malaysia: 
Request for Administrative Review,'' dated August 31, 2017.
    \3\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 82 FR 48051 (October 16, 2017).
    \4\ See memorandum to 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.
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Scope of the Order

    The merchandise subject to this antidumping duty order is 
polyethylene retail carrier bags (PRCBs), which also may be referred to 
as t-shirt sacks, merchandise bags, grocery bags, or checkout bags. The 
subject merchandise is defined as non-sealable sacks and bags with 
handles (including drawstrings), without zippers or integral extruded 
closures, with or without gussets, with or without printing, of 
polyethylene film having a thickness no greater than 0.035 inch (0.889 
mm) and no less than 0.00035 inch (0.00889 mm), and with no length or 
width shorter than 6 inches (15.24 cm) or longer than 40 inches (101.6 
cm). The depth of the bag may be shorter than 6 inches (15.24 cm) but 
not longer than 40 inches (101.6 cm).
    PRCBs are typically provided without any consumer packaging and 
free of charge by retail establishments, e.g., grocery, drug, 
convenience, department, specialty retail, discount stores, and 
restaurants to their customers to package and carry their purchased 
products. The scope of this antidumping duty order excludes (1) PRCBs 
that are not printed with logos or store names and that are closeable 
with drawstrings made of polyethylene film and (2) PRCBs that are 
packed in consumer packaging with printing that refers to specific end-
uses other than packaging and carrying merchandise from retail 
establishments, e.g., garbage bags, lawn bags, trash-can liners.
    Imports of merchandise included within the scope of this 
antidumping duty order are currently classifiable under statistical 
category 3923.21.0085 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States (HTSUS). This subheading may also cover products that are 
outside the scope of this antidumping duty order. Although the HTSUS 
subheading is provided for convenience and customs purposes, the 
written description of the scope of this antidumping duty order is 
dispositive.

Preliminary Determination of No Shipments

    We received a timely submission from Euro SME certifying that it 
did not have sales, shipments, or exports of subject merchandise to the 
United States during the POR.\5\ On January 10, 2018, Commerce 
requested entry data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for 
subject merchandise exported by Euro SME and imported into the United 
States during the POR. This query returned no entries during the 
POR.\6\ Additionally, in order to examine Euro SME's claim, we sent a 
``no-shipments'' inquiry to CBP requesting that any CBP officer alert 
Commerce if he/she had information contrary to these no-shipments 
claims.\7\ On January 11, 2018, Commerce was notified by CBP that there 
were no shipments of PRCBs from Malaysia during the POR.\8\ Consistent 
with our practice, we preliminarily determine that Euro SME had no 
shipments during the POR. Further, we find it is not appropriate to 
rescind the review with respect to Euro SME but, rather, to complete 
the review and issue appropriate instructions to CBP based on the final 
results of the review, consistent with our practice.\9\
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    \5\ See letter from Euro SME, ``Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags 
from Malaysia; No Shipment Certification,'' dated November 14, 2017.
    \6\ See Commerce's memorandum to the file, ``U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection Data,'' dated January 12, 2018.
    \7\ See CBP message 8011306, dated January 11, 2018.
    \8\ See Commerce's memorandum to the file, ``U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection--No Shipment Inquiry Data,'' dated February 6, 
2018.
    \9\ See, e.g., Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from Thailand; 
Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 
Partial Rescission of Review, Preliminary Determination of No 
Shipments; 2012-2013, 79 FR 15951, 15952 (March 24, 2014), unchanged 
in Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from Thailand: Final Results of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, Final Determination of No 
Shipments, and Partial Rescission of Review; 2012-2013, 79 FR 51306 
(August 28, 2014).

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[[Page 11960]]

Public Comment

    Interested parties may submit case briefs no later than 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register.\10\ Rebuttal comments to case briefs, which must be limited 
to issues raised in the case briefs, must be filed within five days 
after the date for filing case briefs.\11\ Parties who submit arguments 
in this proceeding are requested to submit with each argument: (a) A 
statement of the issue, (b) a brief summary of the argument, and (c) a 
table of authorities.\12\ Parties submitting briefs should do so 
pursuant to Commerce's electronic filing system: Enforcement and 
Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic 
Service System (ACCESS).\13\ ACCESS is available to registered users at 
https://access.trade.gov, and is available to all parties in the 
Central Records Unit, room B8024 of the main Department of Commerce 
building.
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    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii).
    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1)(2).
    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2), (d)(2).
    \13\ See 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 must submit a written request to the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce 
within 30 days of the date of publication of this notice. Hearing 
requests should contain the following information: (1) The party's 
name, address and telephone number; (2) the number of participants; and 
(3) a list of issues to be discussed. Issues raised in the hearing will 
be limited to those raised in the respective case briefs. If a request 
for a hearing is made, parties will be notified of the time and date of 
the hearing which will be held at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230.
    Unless extended, we intend to issue the final results of this 
administrative review, including our analysis of all issues raised in 
any written brief, not later than 120 days of publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the 
Act.

Assessment Rates

    Upon issuance of the final results, Commerce will determine, and 
CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries covered 
by this review.\14\ In accordance with Commerce's practice, for entries 
of subject merchandise during the POR for which Euro SME did not know 
that the merchandise was destined for the United States, we will 
instruct CBP to liquidate such entries at the all-others rate if there 
is no rate for the intermediate company(ies) involved in the 
transaction \15\ We intend to issue assessment instructions to CBP 15 
days after the publication date of the final results of this review.
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    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.212(b).
    \15\ See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: 
Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 68 FR 23954 (May 6, 2003).
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Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon 
publication of the final results of this administrative review for all 
shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date of the 
final results of review, as provided for by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the 
Act: (1) For Euro SME, which claimed no shipments, the cash deposit 
rate will remain unchanged from the rate assigned to Euro SME in the 
most recently completed review of the company; (2) for previously 
investigated or reviewed companies, the cash deposit rate will continue 
to be the company-specific rate published for the most recent period; 
(3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, a prior 
review, or the less-than-fair-value investigation, but the producer is, 
the cash deposit rate will be the rate established for the most recent 
period for the producer of the merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit 
rate for all other producers or exporters is 2.40 percent. These 
deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until 
further notice.

Notification to Importers

    This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of 
their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation 
of the relevant entries during this period. Failure to comply with this 
requirement may result in the Secretary's presumption that 
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of double antidumping duties.
    This notice is issued in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 
777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: March 13, 2018.
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.
[FR Doc. 2018-05481 Filed 3-16-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P