[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 69 (Tuesday, April 10, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15370-15372]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-07312]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-560-829]


Certain Uncoated Paper From Indonesia: Preliminary Results of 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2015-2016

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and 
exporters of certain uncoated paper from Indonesia. The period of 
review is June 29, 2015, through December 31, 2016. Interested parties 
are invited to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable April 10, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Goldberger or Darla Brown, 
Office II, AD/CVD Operations, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4136 or (202) 
482-1791, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Commerce published the notice of initiation of this administrative 
review on May 9, 2017.\1\ On November 6, 2017, Commerce postponed the 
preliminary results of this review until April 2, 2018.\2\ Commerce 
exercised its discretion to toll all deadlines affected by the closure 
of the Federal Government from January 20 through January 22, 2018. As 
a result, the revised deadline for the preliminary results of this 
review is now April 3, 2018.\3\ For a complete description of the 
events that followed the initiation of this review, see the Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.\4\
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    \1\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 82 FR 21513 (May 9, 2017) (Initiation 
Notice).
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Certain Uncoated Paper from Indonesia: 
Extension of Deadline for Preliminary Results of 2015-2016 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Review,'' dated November 6, 2017.
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``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 three days.
    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review: Certain 
Uncoated Paper from Indonesia; 2015-2016,'' dated concurrently with, 
and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum).
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Period of Review

    According to section 351.213(e)(2)(ii) of Commerce's regulations, 
the first administrative review of a countervailing duty order should 
cover the period from the initial date of suspension of liquidation of 
the subject merchandise to the end of the most recently completed 
calendar or fiscal year. In this case, suspension of liquidation began 
on June 29, 2015.\5\ Therefore, the period of review (POR) for which we 
are measuring countervailable subsidies is from June 29, 2015 through 
December 31, 2016.
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    \5\ See Certain Uncoated Paper from Indonesia: Preliminary 
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final 
Determination With Final Antidumping Determination, 80 FR 36971 
(June 29, 2016).
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    Because it is Commerce's practice to calculate subsidy rates on an 
annual basis, we calculated a 2015 rate and a 2016 rate. The rate 
calculated for 2015 will be applicable only to entries, or withdrawals 
from warehouse, for consumption made on and after June 29, 2015 through 
the end of 2015.

Scope of the Order

    The products covered by the order are certain uncoated paper from 
Indonesia. A full description of the scope of the order is contained in 
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, which is hereby adopted by this 
notice.\6\
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    \6\ Id.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this countervailing duty (CVD) review in 
accordance with section 751(a)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act). For each of the subsidy programs found 
countervailable, Commerce preliminarily determines that there is a 
subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution by an ``authority'' that gives 
rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is 
specific.\7\ For a full description of the methodology underlying our 
preliminary conclusions,

[[Page 15371]]

see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\8\ 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 http://access.trade.gov, and is available to all 
parties in the Central Records Unit, Room B8024 of the main Department 
of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and electronic versions of the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \7\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding 
financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding 
benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
    \8\ A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum can be found in Appendix I to this notice.
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Preliminary Results of the Review

    As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine that the 
following estimated countervailable subsidy rates for 2015 and 2016 
exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        2015 Ad Valorem  2016 Ad Valorem
                Company                       rate             rate
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APRIL Fine Paper Macao Commercial               15.09%            4.13%
 Offshore Limited/PT Anugrah Kertas
 Utama/PT Riau Andalan Kertas/PT
 Intiguna Primatama/PT Riau Andalan
 Pulp & Paper/PT Esensindo Cipta
 Cemerlang/PT Sateri Viscose
 International/PT ITCI Hutani
 Manunggal............................
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Assessment Rates

    Upon issuance of the final results, Commerce shall determine, and 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, countervailing 
duties on all appropriate entries covered by this review. We intend to 
issue assessment instructions to CBP 15 days after publication of the 
final results of this review.

Cash Deposit Requirements

    Pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act, Commerce also intends 
to instruct CBP to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing 
duties in the amount calculated for 2016. For all non-reviewed firms, 
we will instruct CBP to collect cash deposits of estimated 
countervailing duties at the most recent company-specific or all-others 
rate applicable to the company, as appropriate. These cash deposit 
requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further 
notice.

Disclosure and Public Comment

    Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties the calculations 
and analysis performed in connection with this preliminary results 
within five days of publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register.\9\ 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 proceeding.\10\ Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues 
raised in case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after 
the deadline date for case briefs.\11\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) 
and (d)(2), parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this 
review 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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    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(l)(ii).
    \11\ 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, 
Commerce 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.
    Unless the deadline is extended pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of 
the Act, we intend to issue the final results of this administrative 
review, including the results of our analysis of the issues raised by 
the parties in their comments, within 120 days after issuance of these 
preliminary results.

Notification to Interested Parties

    These preliminary results are issued and published pursuant to 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: April 3, 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.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Order
IV. Subsidies Valuation Information
V. Analysis of Programs
    a. Programs Preliminarily Determined To Be Countervailable
    i. Provision of Standing Timber for Less Than Adequate 
Remuneration (LTAR)
    ii. Government Prohibition of Log Exports
    iii. Exemption from Import Income Tax Withholding for Companies 
in Bonded Zone Locations
    b. Program Preliminarily Determined Not To Confer Benefits
    i. Preferential Lending to RAPP and RAK
    c. Program Preliminarily Determined To Not Be Countervailable
    i. Tax Amnesty Program
    d. Programs Preliminarily Determined To Not Be Used
    i. Debt Forgiveness through the Indonesian Government's 
Acceptance of Financial Instruments with No Market Value
    ii. Debt Forgiveness through Asia Pulp and Paper/Sinar Mas 
Group's (APP/SMG) Buyback of Its Own Debt from the GOI
    iii. Export Financing from Export-Import Bank of Indonesia
    iv. Export Credit Insurance
    v. Export Credit Guarantees
    vi. Tax Incentives for Investment in Specified Business Lines 
and/or in Specified Regions by Indonesia's Investment Coordinating 
Board (BKPM)--Corporate Income Tax Deduction
    vii. Tax Incentives for Investment in Specified Business Lines 
and or in Specified Regions by the BKPM--

[[Page 15372]]

Accelerated Depreciation and Amortization
    viii. Tax Incentives for Investment in Specified Business Lines 
and or in Specified Regions by the BKPM--Extension of Loss Carry-
Forwards
    ix. Preferential Treatment for Bonded Zone Locations
    1. Waiver of License and Fee Requirements
    2. Exemption from Sales Taxes for Capital Goods and Equipment 
Used to Produce Exports
VI. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2018-07312 Filed 4-9-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P