[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 88 (Monday, May 7, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20035-20038]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-09633]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-533-879]


Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin From India: Preliminary Affirmative 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of Final 
Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin from India is being, or is 
likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). 
The period of investigation (POI) is July 1, 2016, through June 30, 
2017. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary 
determination.

DATES: Applicable May 7, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicholas Czajkowski or Mark Kennedy, 
AD/CVD Operations, Office I, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1395 or (202) 
482-7883, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 
733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce 
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on October 26, 
2017.\1\
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    \1\ See Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin from India and the 
People's Republic of China: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigations, 82 FR 49587 (October 26, 2017) (Initiation Notice).
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    Commerce exercised its discretion to toll all deadlines affected by 
the closure of the Federal Government from January 20 through 22, 
2018.\2\ Accordingly, the

[[Page 20036]]

revised deadline for the preliminary determination of this 
investigation became March 12, 2018.\3\ Subsequently, on February 20, 
2018, Commerce postponed the preliminary determination of this 
investigation and the revised deadline is now April 30, 2018.\4\ For a 
complete description of the events that followed the initiation of this 
investigation, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\5\ A list of 
topics addressed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as 
Appendix II to this notice. 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 
https://access.trade.gov, and 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/.
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    \2\ 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 3 days.
    \3\ Id.
    \4\ See Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin from India: Postponement 
of Preliminary Determination of Antidumping Duty Investigation, 83 
FR 8423 (February 27, 2018).
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of 
Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin from India'' dated concurrently with, 
and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is PTFE resin from India. 
For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, see 
Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\6\ the 
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise 
issues regarding product coverage (scope).\7\ Certain interested 
parties commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in 
the Initiation Notice. For a summary of the product coverage comments 
and rebuttal responses submitted to the record for this investigation, 
and accompanying discussion and analysis of all comments timely 
received, see the Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum.\8\ See the 
scope in Appendix I to this notice. The scope case briefs were due on 
April 9, 2018, 30 days after the publication of PTFE Resin from India 
CVD.\9\ There will be no further opportunity for comments on scope-
related issues.\10\
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    \6\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \7\ See Initiation Notice.
    \8\ See Memorandum, ``Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin from India 
and the People's Republic of China: Scope Comments Decision 
Memorandum for the Preliminary Determinations,'' dated February 28, 
2018 (Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum).
    \9\ The scope case briefs were due 30 days after the publication 
of Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin from India: Preliminary Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination, 83 FR 9842 (March 8, 2018) (PTFE 
Resin from India CVD), which was Saturday, April 7, 2018. See the 
Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum at 2. Therefore, the actual 
deadline for the scope case briefs was Monday, April 9, 2018. See 19 
CFR 351.303(b)(1) (``For both electronically filed and manually 
filed documents, if the applicable due date falls on a non-business 
day, the Secretary will accept documents that are filed on the next 
business day.''). The deadline for scope rebuttal briefs was Monday, 
April 16, 2018.
    \10\ See Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum at 3 (``Parties 
should include all arguments about scope-related issues in the scope 
case and scope rebuttal briefs. Commerce does not intend to permit 
arguments about scope-related issues in the investigation-specific 
case and rebuttal briefs regarding other issues.'')
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 731 of the Act. Commerce has calculated export prices in 
accordance with section 772(a) of the Act. Constructed export prices 
have been calculated in accordance with section 772(b) of the Act. 
Normal value (NV) is calculated in accordance with section 773 of the 
Act. For a full description of the methodology underlying Commerce's 
preliminary determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

All-Others Rate

    Sections 733(d)(1)(ii) and 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that in 
the preliminary determination Commerce shall determine an estimated 
all-others rate for all exporters and producers not individually 
examined. This rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of 
the estimated weighted-average dumping margins established for 
exporters and producers individually examined, excluding all rates that 
are zero, de minimis, or determined entirely under section 776 of the 
Act.
    In this investigation, Commerce has preliminarily determined a 
calculated rate for Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited, the one mandatory 
respondent in this investigation, that is not zero, de minimis, or 
based entirely on facts otherwise available. Consequently, the rate 
calculated for this respondent is also assigned as the rate for all-
other producers and exporters in this investigation.

Preliminary Determination

    Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Cash deposit
                                             Estimated    rate (adjusted
                                             weighted-      for export
            Exporter/producer                 average         subsidy
                                          dumping margin      offset)
                                            (percent ad     (percent ad
                                             valorem)        valorem)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited.........           18.49      \11\ 17.16
All-Others..............................           18.49      \12\ 17.16
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suspension of Liquidation
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    \11\ See Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin from India: Preliminary 
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 83 FR 9842 (March 8, 
2018) and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum at ``Programs 
Preliminarily Determined to Be Countervailable'' (specifically, 
Export Promotion of Capital Goods Scheme (EPCGS); Advance 
Authorization Program (AAP) aka Advance License Program (ALP); and 
Status Holders Incentive Scrip (SHIS)).
    \12\ Id.
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    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will 
direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation 
of entries of subject merchandise, as described in Appendix I, entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register, as discussed below. 
Further, pursuant to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.205(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal 
to the estimated weighted-average dumping

[[Page 20037]]

margin or the estimated all-others rate, adjusted for export subsidies, 
as follows: (1) The cash deposit rate for the respondent listed above 
will be equal to the company-specific estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins determined in this preliminary determination, adjusted 
for export subsidies; (2) if the exporter is not a respondent 
identified above, but the producer is, then the cash deposit rate will 
be equal to the company-specific estimated weighted-average dumping 
margin established for that producer of the subject merchandise, 
adjusted for export subsidies; and (3) the cash deposit rate for all 
other producers and exporters will be equal to the all-others estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin, adjusted for export subsidies.
    For cash deposits, Commerce normally adjusts the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margins by the amount of export subsidies 
countervailed in a companion countervailing duty (CVD) proceeding, when 
CVD provisional measures are in effect. Accordingly, where Commerce has 
preliminarily made an affirmative determination that there are 
countervailable export subsidies, Commerce has offset the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin by the appropriate CVD rate 
attributable to export subsidies. Any such cash deposit rate may be 
found in the Preliminary Determination section above.
    Should provisional measures in the companion CVD investigation 
expire prior to the expiration of provisional measures in this LTFV 
investigation, Commerce will direct CBP to begin collecting estimated 
antidumping duty cash deposits unadjusted for the countervailable 
export subsidies at the time that the provisional CVD measures 
expire.\13\
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    \13\ See Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin from India: Preliminary 
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 83 FR 9842 (March 8, 
2018).
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    These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect 
until further notice.

Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose to interested parties the calculations 
performed in connection with this preliminary determination within five 
days of its public announcement or, if there is no public announcement, 
within five days of the date of publication of this notice in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to 
verify information relied upon in making its final determination.

Public Comment

    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 final verification report is 
issued in this investigation.\14\ Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues 
raised in case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after 
the deadline date for case briefs.\15\ Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) 
and (d)(2), parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this 
investigation 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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    \14\ Case briefs, other written comments, and rebuttal briefs 
should not include scope-related issues. See Preliminary Scope 
Decision Memorandum at 2-3. Parties were already permitted the 
opportunity to file scope case briefs. Id.
    \15\ 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.

Postponement of Final Determination and Extension of Provisional 
Measures

    Section 735(a)(2) of the Act provides that a final determination 
may be postponed until not later than 135 days after the date of the 
publication of the preliminary determination if, in the event of an 
affirmative preliminary determination, a request for such postponement 
is made by exporters who account for a significant proportion of 
exports of the subject merchandise, or in the event of a negative 
preliminary determination, a request for such postponement is made by 
the petitioners. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e)(2), Commerce requires 
that requests by respondents for postponement of a final antidumping 
determination be accompanied by a request for extension of provisional 
measures from a four-month period to a period not more than six months 
in duration.
    On March 28, 2018, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.210(e), GFL requested 
that Commerce postpone the final determination and that provisional 
measures be extended to a period not to exceed six months.\16\ In 
accordance with section 735(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(b)(2)(ii), because (1) the preliminary determination is 
affirmative; (2) the requesting exporter accounts for a significant 
proportion of exports of the subject merchandise; and (3) no compelling 
reasons for denial exist, Commerce is postponing the final 
determination and extending the provisional measures from a four-month 
period to a period not greater than six months. Accordingly, Commerce's 
final determination will be published no later than 135 days after the 
date of publication of this preliminary determination.
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    \16\ See Letter from GFL, ``Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Resin 
from India: Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd.'s Request to Postpone Final 
Determination,'' dated March 28, 2018.
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International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary 
determination of sales at LTFV. If the final determination is 
affirmative, the ITC will determine before the later of 120 days after 
the date of this preliminary determination or 45 days after the final 
determination whether imports of the subject merchandise are materially 
injuring, or threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: April 30, 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 I--Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is 
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin, including but not limited to 
granular, dispersion, or coagulated dispersion (also

[[Page 20038]]

known as fine powder). PTFE is covered by the scope of this 
investigation whether filled or unfilled, whether or not modified, 
and whether or not containing co-polymer additives, pigments, or 
other materials. Also included is PTFE wet raw polymer. The chemical 
formula for PTFE is C2F4, and the Chemical Abstracts Service 
Registry number is 9002-84-0.
    PTFE further processed into micropowder, having particle size 
typically ranging from 1 to 25 microns, and a melt-flow rate no less 
than 0.1 gram/10 minutes, is excluded from the scope of this 
investigation.
    PTFE is classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States (HTSUS) under subheadings 3904.61.0010 and 
3904.61.0090. Subject merchandise may also be classified under HTSUS 
subheading 3904.69.5000. Although the HTSUS subheadings and CAS 
Number are provided for convenience and Customs purposes, the 
written description of the scope is dispositive.

Appendix II--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Scope Comments
V. Product Characteristics
VI. Selection of Respondents
VII. Discussion of the Methodology
    A. Application of Facts Available
    B. Comparisons to Fair Value
VIII. Date of Sale
IX. Product Comparisons
X. Export Price and Constructed Export Price
XI. Normal Value
    A. Comparison Market Viability
    B. Level of Trade
    C. Cost of Production (COP) Analysis
    1. Calculation of COP
    2. Test of Comparison Market Sales Prices
    3. Results of the COP Test
    D. Calculation of NV Based on Comparison Market Prices
XII. Currency Conversion
XIII. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2018-09633 Filed 5-4-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P